Any suggestions where to stay ? Will be traveling from New England. Would like to be close to the show, perhaps within walking distance, if possible.
As the others have said, there really aren't hotels within walking distance, and you do need to reserve quite far in advance. My friend Cindi was on a standby list for 9 months, fortunately there was a cancellation and she was able to get a room. You can
try to get on a standby list, but at this late date you'll be at the bottom and chances are slim to none that you'll get a room this year.
There are shuttles (well, enormous Greyhound buses) that pick people up at various hotels around town and drop them off at the show, Hancock's, Eleanor Burns's place, and other quilt show-affiliated locations. However, we ended up missing 2 of the buses because they were so full we couldn't get on, and were stuck for 4 hours at one location until finally a bus with a few empty seats came by.