youngduncan

The Quilt Festival in Houston is an amazing experience! I have been for the past three years, the first time as an onlooker, the last two as a class-taker, Teacher's Pet and Quilt Angel. The entire event is a bit overwhelming. Expect lots and lots of people, sore and tired feet, sensory overload at every turn. Because you want to take in as much as time allows, getting your ticket(s) ahead of time will give one less long line to wait in. Even us locals who drive in or ride the Metro purchase in advance.

edensgaite

If you intend to stay anywhere near the convention center where the show is held. Wear comfortable shoes...youre gonna need 'em. Bring an empty suitcase...for obvious reason. Have fun. Hope to see ya there.

Rose_P

There's already been a lot of good advice, and I can't add much except to say we lived in Houston for many years, and it's one of the biggest cities in the country. In population it is ranked 4th (last I looked - neck and neck with Philadelphia), but in area it's bigger even than that would suggest. It sprawls, and traffic can be a problem at any time. Even more important than show tickets are reservations at a hotel as close as possible to the George R Brown Convention Center. Use Google Map's "Search Nearby" feature to see what makes sense to you and book it soon as you can. Most reservations of that sort can be changed up to a day before, but check the policy of the specific hotel. Also, if you are driving a rental car, parking near the convention center can be difficult. There may be shuttle busses from some of the more distant parking lots, but a hotel within walking distance would be a big plus. I think there's at least one that has a covered walkway directly into the convention center, but I haven't been there in several years, and as a local, of course I didn't stay in a hotel.

One more bit of advice that applies to travellers anywhere in the world is try to acquaint yourself with the currency exchange rate and carry a calculator. Right now if you see a 10 USD price it's actually over 14 Australian dollars, and you will also be paying sales taxes which are not shown on price tags. It would be pretty easy for me in that situation to think I was looking at great bargains, when it might not necessarily be the case.

Wishing you a wonderful experience!

Peckish

Yes, you are correct, they just posted the class information this week. I should have been more clear with my comment.

I have found that when I make hotel reservations at a hotel within walking distance of the convention center, I need to make them nearly a year in advance in order to secure a room. The classes are offered before the show begins, so if you want to take classes and see the show, you have to go for an extended amount of time. Well, if they don't post the classes until June, but I have to make hotel reservations in December, how do I know how many days I want to stay? If they don't offer any classes I want to take, then my 3 or 4 extra days at a hotel are wasted time and money.

However, having said that, the years I decided to go ahead and make hotel reservations for the dates the classes were offered, I was always able to find something I was interested in.

Hopefully the new Marriott that's attached to the convention center will make it easier to find hotel rooms later in the season.