Quilting Adventures

Iowa Quilt Exposition and Winterset Covered Bridge Festival October 4-10, 2010 Trip Coordinator: Sue Glass, 310-372-3945, sue@travelingquilters.com

Our 2010 week-long trip will be in October to see the American Quilters Society Quilt Exposition in Des Moines, Iowa. This beautiful show features 800 quilts, 300 vendors, and lots, lots more. It's put on by the same wonderful folks who do the shows in Paducah and Tennessee every year, and we know it will be really special!

We'll fly into Des Moines on Monday, October 4, 2010, and go by bus to our first hotel just outside the Amana Colonies about an hour from Des Moines. We'll spend two days touring this special part of Iowa.

We'll visit Kalona, the "Quilt Capitol of Iowa," for a special lecture and exhibit of antique Amish and other quilts at the Kalona Quilt Museum. In addition we'll tour the area, including some of those famous barn quilts, and have dinner in an Old Order Mennonite home. We will tour the Amana Colonies as well, visiting their quilt shops and giving you plenty of time to shop on your own. We will stop in Grinnell to see the beautiful Jewel Box Bank building designed by Louis Sullivan, and of course another quilt shop. We'll return to Des Moines on Wednesday evening.

A store in Amana.

The Jewel Box Bank.

Thursday begins with a guided tour of the Iowa State House and Governor's Mansion, Terrace Hill. Built by Iowa's first millionaire in1869, this beautiful 18,000 square foot house is home to Iowa's governor and his family. We'll also stop by Living History Farms to see the 1875 town of Walnut Hill with 14 shops and homes, and other exhibits of our agricultural heritage. We'll head to Valley Junction for our final stop of the day for the AQS sanctioned Quilt Walk featuring more than 100 quilts hung in all the shops, as well as other special exhibits. Friday we will spend the entire day at the AQS Quilt Exposition.

Saturday is our day in Winterset, Iowa, home of Fons and Porter, and the Covered Bridge Festival. This festival usually includes a local quilt show, arts and crafts booths, and lots of that great Iowa food. A highlight of our visit will be touring a number of beautiful covered bridges including the actual bridges featured in the book and movie, The Bridges of Madison County. How can you miss that!!

Winterset park bridge.

Fons & Porter store.

Roseman bridge.

Saturday evening will find us at the Des Moines Botanical Gardens for another quilt exhibit. For dinner that evening we have a very special Mystery event planned for your entertainment!

Trip price includes: Air conditioned motor coach with restroom 6 nights hotel accommodations Breakfast daily 3 lunches 2 dinners 2 guided tours Admission to all events Porterage and gratuities Cost: $1085 per person (double occupancy); $1455 per person (single occupancy) $250 deposit will hold your space (you can use our layaway plan for this trip too) Downtown Winterset. Birthplace of John Wayne.

Winterset courthouse.

John Wayne bronze.

Day Trips
All trips depart from Fullerton, Redondo Beach, and Westfield Mall (formerly Fox Hills) unless otherwise noted.

International Quilt Festival/Long Beach (INCLUDES ADMISSION)
July 24, 2010
San Diego and Victorville departures only

SAN DIEGO
Trip Coordinator: Ruth Jones (858) 569-6947; ruth@travelingquilters.com

Ruth is offering a bus trip from the San Diego area to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. You'll have plenty of time at the show to visit all the vendors and view all the wonderful quilts. There will be four departure points for your convenience: 1) the trolley parking lot off Amaya and Amaya Court in La Mesa, 2) the Park and Ride at Via Rancho Parkway and I-15 in Escondido, 3) the boat ramp parking lot near the Clairemont Dr exit off I-5 and 4) Park N Ride at I-5 and La Costa Ave in Encinitas.

Cost: $48 per person (includes admission)

VICTORVILLE
Trip Coordinator: Lynn Crawford (760) 249-8869; lynn@travelingquilters.com

Lynn is offering a bus trip from the Victorville/Wrightwood area to Long Beach as well. Come with us - no driving or parking to worry about. There will be plenty of time for all those lovely quilts and all those great vendors. We'll have two departure points for you: Victorville (Valley Sew & Vac, 12401 Hesperia Rd., Victorville - Carriage Square Plaza) or the 15/138 Shell Station in Cajon Pass.

Cost: $48 per person (includes admission)

Robert Kaufman Tour and Quilt Shop Hopping September 17, 2010 (Friday) Fullerton and Redondo Beach departures only Trip Coordinator: Lynn (760) 249-8869; lynn@travelingquilters.com

We thought we would take advantage of some of the research we've done for the Quilts Inc. tours at the Long Beach International Quilt Festival, and give you a rare opportunity to tour the Robert Kaufman facility in Hawthorne. While there you'll learn about the company history as well as see the business in action. We'll have a tour of their design studio and see their warehouse and work areas up close. Are you a jelly roll fan? See how they are made!

After departing Kaufman we've planned an afternoon which includes a lunch stop (on your own) and several quilt shops. It should be a fun day. A couple of notes . . . because we'll be touring a working business, this tour will take place on a Friday (not our usual Saturday). Also, because this is a manufacturing and shipping facility our hosts request that you wear closed toe shoes for this tour. It's for your protection. And because of space constraints imposed by Kaufman, we must limit this trip to no more than 30 people. We know you won't want to miss the trip, so do please sign up as soon as possible. Once the bus is filled, it's filled!

Cost: $45 per person

Hoffman International and Quilt Shop Hopping September 24, 2010 (Friday) San Diego departure only Coordinator: Ruth Jones (858) 569-6947; ruth@travelingquilters.com

Many times we've thought about offering something in addition to Road to California or the Long Beach Quilt Festival (LBQF) for our San Diego customers. And so, we're off to Hoffman International for a guided tour of their facility including the warehouse and design room. We offered this tour in 2008 and are offering it again in 2010 in conjunction with the LBQF. It's a fascinating story and "kid in a candy shop" comes to mind as you wander through the large warehouse filled floor to ceiling with bolts and rolls of beautiful Hoffman fabric! This will be a tour especially designed for our San Diego customers.

In addition to the tour at Hoffman you'll also have an opportunity to visit several quilt shops in the area. For your convenience we've included a box lunch in this trip price. Please note that because of space constraints imposed by Hoffman we are only able to offer one bus for this trip. The motorcoach will originate in La Mesa and will have one pick up in Escondido.

Cost: $49 per person

Weekend Trips

Temecula Quilt-Away Retreats

February 24 - 27, 2011: Join us Thursday, February 24 for 3 nights, or Friday, February 25 for 2 nights through Sunday, February 27
Trip Coordinator: Lynn Crawford (760) 249-8869; lynn@travelingquilters.com

September 15 - 18, 2011: Join us Thursday, September 15 for 3 nights, or Friday, September 16 for 2 nights through Sunday, September 18
Trip Coordinator: Sue Glass (310) 372-3945; sue@travelingquilters.com

Our Temecula Quilt-Away Retreats are always fun and productive weekends. It's a great opportunity to finish projects or start something new. We usually have anywhere from 30 to 45 people at the retreat so it's always fun to see what people are working on. Each person has half an 8-ft table for sewing space in our large, well-lit classroom.

If you haven't been to our Temecula retreat before you're in for a treat! Our host for the weekend is Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center - a religious retreat center run by the Sisters of Little Company of Mary. The center is nestled in the heart of the wine country region of Temecula. We have ample, well-lit sewing space, clean comfortable rooms with two single beds and private baths, and our favorite part - the nuns do all the cooking. All we have to do is march up the hill to the cafeteria for simple, but delicious meals. Check the website www.vinalestonnac.com for more information about this lovely retreat center. This is a "drive yourself" weekend.