Quilt Shows in 2017

I've been debating on & off whether to attend QuiltCon (which is just a few weeks away by this point) in Savannah, GA for awhile. Out of all the conventions out there, QuiltCon, despite not being the biggest, is 120% relevant to me and also probably represents some of the most awesome vendors that I will probably never see at other quilt shows. Then there might be opportunities to attend the Keynote address by Angela Walters (!!!) or attend some book signings. If I had to pick one show out of all the shows all year, this is the one.

However, by this point, pretty much all of the lectures or workshops I might want to attend are already sold out. I suspect some of the most popular ones have been sold out almost immediately upon availability. Hotel and airfare is also expensive, and I will have to ask my husband to watch the kids for a few days while I sashay away. The quilt show and the vendor floor is extremely, extremely attractive, but couldn't I save the $1000+ in airfare + hotel + car rental + admission to ... buy fabric instead?

Therefore ...

That being said, I will keep watch for news about QuiltCon 2018. If I can get into some of the classes I've been eyeing, then it's probably worth attending.

In the mean time, I will entertain myself with the thoughts of attending these local(ish) shows:

April: International Quilt Festival in Rosemont, IL
April: AQS Quilt Week in Paducah, KY
September: Quilt Expo in Madison, WI
September: Original Sewing & Quilting Expo in Schaumburg, IL

Well, we'll see how many of these I manage to attend this year.