Hi Wanda, Lots of great information -- thanks!! I'll be going to Houston through the Country Heritage Tours, but we get there midday on Thursday (I'm hoping to make the 1 pm booth meeting) and we're on our own for dinner, so count me in for any TQS dinner! How exciting!!! Thanks,

Gabber,
I try to spend a couple of days on the show floor shopping and viewing all the quilts. Everyday at 1:00 there is a meet and greet at the TQS booth that you will not want to miss. This is a great way to meet fellow TQS members. We always take a group picture.
I also love to take classes. I live about 2 1/2 hours from Houston and this is my chance to take from the great national and international teachers. Most do not teach classes nearby at any other time of the year. Another good reason to take classes and lectures, is to give the feet a much needed rest.
On Thursday evening, there will be a TQS dinner. It's also a great time to meet TQSer's! I have not decided on the venue yet as last year we had 30-35 members attend! There is always lots of fun and laughter as is when quilters get together!
All downtown cabs charge $6.00. Parking can be very expensive in downtown Houston. Anywhere from $10-20 per day.
One thing that I have learned to do...Quilt Fest has several secure spots where you can leave your packages during the day for a $1.00 fee for each package. This will save your shoulders!
Hope this helps!
WandaM

PS I would download the catalouge off the quilts.com website and study it...it is a wealth of info

I live in Houston and have been to most all the quilt show here. My mom and gmom were all quilters. Houston is the 4th largest city if the US. The quilt show is the largest convention in Houston. (yeah quilters !!!) If you can't stay downtown, I would suggest the Clear Lake/ NASA. You can drive in on the HOV( high occupancy vehicle lane) and have your own lane that just drops into downtown. Other parts of the city will have heavy traffic, so a 20-30 minute drive is not bad. The Clear Lake/ NASA area is the home to the Johnson Space Center, the training grounds of the astronauts. It also the home of Clear Lake, a tributary to Galveston Bay. Kemah is down on the water and has The Kemah Boardwalk. It's home to great seafood restaurants, entertainment ( boardwalk), and a channel full of pleasure crafts and sailboats. It's a great relaxer after seeing all there is to see. I would plan at least two days at the show ( all the quilts and soooo many vendors) . The classes are great too !!! ENJOY

I forgot one thing: if you enroll in class, you don't pay any additonal show admission fees--your student badge is your admission to the show floor.

Janet, congratulations! Now you have to come to Houston.

Parking is easily accessible directly across the street from the convention center--it is UNDER Discovery park so you don't see the parking but the entrance is easy to find. As was mentioned, most hotels on the bus route fill up 10-11 months before the show but you may find a room if there are cancellations or at one of the nearby places not on the bus route--since you have a car that's not such a problem.

Just today the class catalog went "live" on the website: http://www.quilts.com Click on Shows, then Houston and you'll find the catalog. Check the Schedule of Events: it lists all the lectures, one hour talks, often with Power Point shows, a chance to sit down and learn. Tickets for those are sold at the door if you don't pre-register for them.

Many of the classes will fill in the next week or two so I recommend you pre-register soon for any class you want to take. In the catalog, the classes that have photos linked to them have red boxes around the description. Just click on the box to see the photo. Be sure to print the supply list for any class you sign up for--sometimes people miss that and show up with no supplies for their class. For sewing machine classes, each student is provided a brand new sewing machine to use.

In addition to classes, there are several Forum/Samplers: Applique' Tecniques,Machine Quilting, Mixed Media Miscellany,and Friday and Saturday Samplers. These are 2-3 hour classes where you rotate to each teacher's station to learn/see great techniques and ideas. Each provides a handout from each teacher. These also fill up, usually, so pre-registration is recommended. Another advantage: those who pre-register get a show pin and great tote bag and admission to preview night Wed at 5 pm, 2 hours before it opens to the public.

All classes are on the 3rd floor. I'll look forward to seeing you in Houston!

Prepare to be overwhelmed!

http://www.quilts.com/newHome/shows/viewer.php?page=FallFestival

where do you get the info on the show?

To those of you who have been, is it possible to stay in an outlying area, drive downtown, and find a decent place to park near the convention center or is parking a nightmare? Do the hotels in the outlying areas fill up fast? I have never been to Houston, but I just found out today that 2 of my quilts were accepted into the show!! Looks like I'm going to have to go now!!

Vicky,
Don't know what to tell you about hotels, most of them start taking reservations shortly after the previous show. Usually they have buses to many of the local hotels. Not sure if they are doing that this year. There is a Doubletree, and a Hyatt that are usually on the bus route. They are the ones closest to the hotel. They used to have 3 different routes, but like I said, not sure if they are doing it this year. My best suggestion is to keep calling the hotels directly, you never know when someone might have to cancel, that happened to me the first year my daughter and I went. The next year we were in an outlying hotel because I didn't realize that we had lucked out the first time.

Gabber,
You can do what you want. It will take two days at least to see the whole first floor of the convention center. Part of it is full of wonderful quilts to look at and get inspiration from. You'll see quilts and say "I can do that" and see some and think, "I could never do that". The other part of the floor is filled with vendors where you can buy almost anything quilty that you could want. You can meet Alex, Ricky, Justin, and John. You can meet many of your friends from the TQS site. There are also many classes that you can take. Some are 1/2 day, some are all day, and some are multi-day. The classrooms are on the 3rd floor. You can learn from so many people. In the last 11 years that I have gone, (I'm lucky to live 3 hours from Houston) I have taken classes from Suzanne Marshall, John Flynn, Bethany Reynolds, Mary Mashuta, Karen Combs, Georgia Bonesteel, and many more great teachers. The show provides sewing machines for classes. The different vendors provide them. They often give great deal on the machines used for classes. Come and have fun, but be sure to wear your comfortable shoes.
Frances in Austin

Gabber wrote:
That's great that you are going! I've only gone once. Last year was my first time so I'm sure you will get other replies with good info. I didn't take any classes where I sewed, but you could (I did) spend days just to really see every quilt. There are SO many vendors too. I went to a couple lectures and you don't need a machine for the sampler class. There were lots of quilt teachers at stations around the room and you just move from one to the other to sit and watch them demo their technique at your own pace. Have fun!

I am going to Houston this year for the first time. Maybe some of you with experience going to big quilt shows can help me out. Do you just walk around and look? Do you take classes? If so, not taking my machine, will they just be lectures? Any tips will be appreciated. I am so excited!!

does anyone have any suggestions about accomodations in Houston as the hotels listed in brochure are hard to get reservations at even at this early date. Vicky