When I first decided I would go to IQF in Houston I googled to see if there were any hints etc for me going as a first timer from the other side of the world – I didn’t find much – so I resolved that after my visit to Houston, I would do a blog post to write about the hints and ideas that I would have found helpful.

Okay – if you can stay at either the Hilton or the Marriott Marquis – they are both attached to the Convention centre where IQF is held. This saves the need to have transportation and you can always go back to your room during lunch breaks. Also if the weather is bad you are undercover getting to and from the Convention Centre. I noticed that about two weeks after Festival the IQF organisers put a post on their Facebook page that accommodation was open for next years event. So if you really want to stay nearby book your accommodation early. I have heard that some people book from year to year.

It is worth noting that our hotel (the Marriott) charged my credit card, upon check in the equivalent of four nights accommodation and then proceeded to charge each nights accommodation as the days went on (this meant that a considerable amount of money was ‘tied’ up by the hotel during my stay). On the second last day, they wiped all the charges and then charged the correct amount. So I would recommend taking two credit cards – one for accommodation and one for spending.

For those of us who don’t drink coffee there is no electric kettle in the hotel rooms – but there is a small pod-type coffee machine, so you can just run the hot water through the machine to heat it and run it directly into your cup (with a tea bag in it) They do provide plain tea, but of course I like herbal so took my own.

Interestingly, I advised my credit card companies that I would be away at an Expo and that vendors from around the globe would be there so that they wouldn’t decline any transactions. At one point my bank did phone me to ask whether it was me using my card, lol must’ve got concerned at the rate I was making purchases.

Okay now we have made the hotel choice. When the class options come out, make your choices – and because they now have online enrolment it makes it easy for us international ones to get into the classes they want.

When registering for your classes, functions and lectures be aware that the lunchtime is two hours – so it is definitely worthwhile taking in a lunchtime lecture or going back to your hotel as Festival does not open until Thursday night (classes etc run from Monday to Sunday).

On a side note – Festival is different to Market – Quilt Market is for designers, shop owners, importers/ exporters/ wholesalers to peruse and make purchases – you are not allowed into Market unless you have the required (pre-authorised) credentials. So Market runs for about a week prior to Festival. I think it finishes at the end of a Monday. So most vendors leave on the Tuesday after Market and a lot of new ones spend 3 days setting up ready for Festival (Which opens on Thursday night).

Anyway – back to Festival if you are going to classes it is advisable to register at the Convention centre on the Sunday afternoon – you get a bag with all the details on where your classes are etc and you can walk around and find your rooms etc.

WEAR COMFY SHOES. That was the advice I was given and it was absolutely true – nothing prepares one for the sheer size of IQF. The convention centre runs for about 12 blocks. When you enter one end (from your hotel) you literally cannot see the other end its that far. Apart from class days you spend a lot of time on your feet, so be kind to them. Even the distance of walking to and from classes is considerable. For those who are less mobile there are facilities onsite to hire electric motor scooters (they look quite fun)

The quilt show and exhibitors (vendors) are on the lower level. Level 2 is all the admin, registration etc. Third level is ballrooms (where functions are held), classrooms etc. There are huge porthole windows on level 2 so you can view the exhibitors and get exited about opening night.

The classrooms are air conditioned and I would recommend layering of clothing – it was very rare that I took my cardigan off in the classrooms, but on the Festival show floor I never wore my cardigan – It was air conditioned but not cold – the classrooms were definitely cooler.

Okay – eating. Near to the convention centre (a few blocks away) is a store called Phoenicia – it has relatively healthy food, ready made salads, meals etc as well as a grocery type layout – they also have an attached restaurant and an area where you can sit and eat what you have purchased in the store. We bought snacks and foods to keep in our fridge in the hotel room. And after a hotel breakfast on the first day, we went back to Phoenicia and purchased food for breakfast and kept that in our room and just had that each morning instead of in the hotel restaurant. (This allowed us more money to spend in the vendor stalls instead of on our hotel bill) and saved time waiting for hotel breaky.

There is limited food at the convention centre for lunches (but it is sufficient) the only thing is you have to queue for it. They have a choice of usual fast food type meals and also there was a salad option. Bear in mind that you do have two hours for lunch so there is plenty of time to go out.

For those who have registered for classes you get an early preview of the Quilt Show and Vendor stalls on the Thursday night for two hours prior to it being open to the public. At no time did I feel crowded or hassled by people – there were over 1000 vendor stalls there and the isles are wide, I think there were 25 isles with about 55-57 vendors in each isle. Coming from NZ this was just an Aladdin’s cave of treasure – there was a huge variety of vendors with something for everyone, and not too many double-ups in terms of products. A lot of the vendors were selling their own products and it was nice to talk to the maker. There is also a ‘bag check’ outside the hall doors so when your purchases are too cumbersome or heavy to carry you can check them in to be held for you (at the time we went it was a $2 fee for each bag) We were given very large bags by some vendors so we could load them up and have them checked. (No wheelie bags were allowed on the show floor)

The show floor opens at 10am each day from Friday till Sunday and closes around 7pm Friday-Saturday and 4pm Sunday. The preview night is from 5-9pm. On another note the shopping malls in Houston also open at 10am.

In the city, the pedestrian crossings don’t make a noise (signal to cross) so you have to watch the lights to signal when to cross – its the little things, lol. We used Uber and it was fantastic. There are not a lot of pedestrians in the city and we later found out that there are kilometres of underground tunnels that all the office workers use to get about – as it is too hot outside – they even go to their doctors, hairdressers, etc underground in these tunnels.

We stayed in the Marriott Hotel and we ate (several times) at their Mexican restaurant Xochi – it was sensational food and the selection of Margaritas were also worth trying, yum

We were at IQF from Sunday to Sunday – we needed all that time as we filled the first four days with tours, classes and events and then visited the quilt show and exhibitors over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we needed all those days to see everything. I did one of the Quilt Museum tours which took us out of the city and gave me an insight into the surrounding area – we went to a couple of quilt shops and a little town called Le Grande which is where the Museum was. If I went back I would go on the tour to Galveston as that looked interesting too.

I would recommend registering for one of the ‘Sampler’ options this was really interesting (you were free to walk around the ballroom where up to 24 artists, makers, inventors were giving mini lectures, demonstrations etc of their technique, product etc it was a really worthwhile time. While you are queued up waiting to go in you are given sheets of A4 paper, one from each demonstrator detailing what they will be demonstrating or teaching and you can make your choices on where you will go once you are in the room. You can then roam around for up to 2 hours watching and learning.

We also went to the Awards evening which was very professionally ran and the way the winning quilts were displayed was so respectful and honouring to the makers.

We went to Quiltapalooza which was a fun night sitting around tables with 500 other ladies who all love the same things. Their were door prizes, table prizes, raffles and lots of laughs with a boxed dinner provided. Our table even won second place in the ‘make a monster’ competition with the materials provided on the table. It was Halloween which really added a fun touch to the night and prizes were given to those brave enough to venture onto the stage to show off their costumes.

All the events I have talked about above we had pre-registered online for when enrolments opened a couple of months prior to the show. We had an absolute ball, was worth the travel to this bucket list event and I would go back (after I have saved some money).

I hope this might give some insight for those who have not been to Houston Quilt Festival before and help you with your preparations.

I will make further posts on all the quilts at the show.