The BIG ONE in Chantilly ( the Sewing & Quilt Expo) moved to Fredericksburg 3 years ago! The QU show is still held in Chantilly in June, but is not as large..........I have found that the Sewing & Quilt Expo in Fredericksburg and the Mancuso Mid Atlantic QuiltFest in Hampton VA, and the show in Hershey PA in July ate the ones to attend on the East Coast ( Mid Atlantic area at any rate ).

I saw that booth too, and thought the same thing. DDIL was with me, a non-quilter or sewer, but a graphic artist. She likes to see all the different things that are done with textiles. She was trying to find some small easy hand-stitched item to try her hand at, but couldn't find anything really easy. There used to be more of that stuff in past years. I didn't go last year, so it was interesting to see what has changed in just a couple years. Lots of new sewing machines and lots of longarms.

The Hershey show is not an AQS sponsored show, so it is different. It is in the summertime, I think. More local stuff. I love seeing how the whole quilting world is evolving to meet the needs of the next generation. We need to get the younger set quilting so we can carry on for generations.

We have a Mancuso Quilt Expo in my area in the fall. I always enjoy that one too. I would love to attend the ones in Virginia, but with a senior dog here ( 12 1/2 year old Great Dane) I'm not going very far away.

I have often seen where some of the venues for the shows, because of a great turnout one year, will raise the fees for the vendors and they end up making less. Vendors just say no because of possibly making little to no profit. Then there's a no win no win situation. Quilts are displayed and classes taught and sometimes the only lesson learned (maybe?) is not to do it again.

shorebird you're right. because there were not a lot of vendors at the somerset nj show. I was told most went to Hampton, va. and the others to fla show. and mancuso always has a great show.

I have to agree that Lancaster didn't have nearly as many vendors as in the past. I missed last year so I can't say how it was then, but 2013 was amazing. Eleanor Burns was there and had an awesome booth, several others with bolts and bolts of fabric - very little of that this time. I've been to Oaks, PA and Baltimore/Hunt Valley MD and believed they were "lame" compared to Lancaster. I guess that one's down the tubes too.

I like to go to shows that have lots of vendors. I like to see different fabric and notions and patterns.

I've been going for 15 years and since the show moved to downtown, I've gone to the show once. My friend and I spend our time visiting the 20+ quilt shops in the surrounding areas. Never pay more than $8.50/yd for fabric and most of the shops run specials for the week.

Same for me reason I go as I live in Canada.
Found the same thing at Grand Rapids last year. Thought I'd go to the Chattanooga one this year but according to the Web site there is less vendors than Grandrapids!
Maybe just a trip to a few quilt stores would be better.
Gale

Gra

Sorry, didn't think that the bus at the Continental was provided by AQS but by the vendors at the Continental. Their location was not listed on the AQS site.