I spent last weekend in Austin, TX at QuiltCon 2020! I had a wonderful time and loved every minute of it!

I promised that I would come back here and share my trip with you as well as what I brought home from the show and pictures of allllllll the beautiful quilts!

[Make sure you scroll down to see my videos!]

There were so many quilts. Like, so, so many it is overwhelming. I was blown away by the talent that was showcased and the friendliness of everyone at the show. I walked away with several new friends and even ran into a couple of old quilting friends too. ❤

Austin, Texas

I’m from Houston, Texas so Austin is pretty much in my backyard. I know, I got lucky this year! I went to school just a half-hour from Austin so I spent many nights back then playing around the city and enjoying all that it has to offer. Being back this trip brought back a lot of good memories.

Like… So SOOOOO much good food! My mouth is watering just thinking about it again right now…

Make sure you DO IT LIKE A LOCAL!

First of all, if you have to travel to a quilt show, you HAVE to sample the local cuisine. Get your sense of adventure on and try your hardest not to flock to your old habits and chain restaurants! Especially when you’re in an area known for their food!

That is kind of my rule of thumb for any type of travel, honestly… just enjoy the city like the locals do!

The Hotel

With QuiltCon being at the convention center… there were plenty of hotels to choose from in the downtown area. I always price check and compare for the best deals.

With the hotels right next door, you’re paying for convenience mostly. I made reservations for a hotel that was about a 15-minute walk from the convention center (you can always uber/taxi!) and saved several hundred dollars a night while still staying in a posh and fancy hotel PLUS that beautiful view of the river seen in the photo above. – So, make sure to broaden your search just a little to find a good deal!

? Money saved on hotel = more money to spend on fabric! ?

Even the carpet at my hotel had me feeling all the quilty vibes!

QuiltCon 2020 – The Show

I got there early to be close to the front of the line. 🙂

As you can see… this was no “little” show. There were LOTS of excited quilters ready for shopping and their dose of quilty inspiration!

Tips for Attending QuiltCon (and other quilt shows too!)

Check out my video for tips on visiting QuiltCon and other quilt shows – these tips really can apply to any quilt show you attend!

Shopping Tips at Quilt Shows

If you see something you like, especially if it is fabric… buy it right now. You can’t expect it to be there if you go check out another booth and plan to come back for it! Fabric (especially the ones on sale) can disappear quickly.

If you’re walking around with too much in your arms, Most larger quilt shows have a bag check area close to the registration desk where you can leave your bags in exchange for a claim ticket. Then you can shop with open arms!

I usually bring a big back or backpack with me when I go to the quilt show.

For more tips, you can check out this post that I wrote for the international Quilt Festival!

What I brought home from QuiltCon 2020!!

I know you’re dying to see the goodies that I brought home so I made a video about that too!

I tried my hardest not to buy a ton of stuff because I don’t NEED a ton of stuff right now in my sewing room. I’m pretty well stocked, but that didn’t stop me from picking up a few little things along the way ?

The Quilts On Display at QuiltCon

In all seriousness, while I LOVE the shopping part and the botths and the venders and the PEOPLE… I really love to walk around a quietly look at all the quilts on display.

There were several where my jaw just didn’t have any choice but to drop to the floor, utterly in awe of the talent that I was surrounded by.

It was THAT level of amazing.

If you aren’t excited about the booths or anything else… I beg you to just go and look at the quilting work that other people have done.

Your inspiration level will be off the charts by the time you leave.

You’ll see new ideas and techniques that you haven’t thought of before.

You’ll have questions on how the artists did certain patterns and 100 things to google when you get home haha

So… last but not least, I want to share the quilts from the show with you!

I will admit that this is not ALL of the quilts. I tried my hardest to get a good representation of the quilts on display but there were some I couldn’t photograph because there were too many people in the way or their size was too massive to get in a good photo. — I guess next time you’ll just have to make the trip and see the quilts for yourself! ?

Did you go to QuiltCon 2020?

Tell me what your thoughts were on the show! I would love to hear from you… And also, hi again to the sweet friends I got to hug and the new ones I met while I was there! I love my quilting friends ?