Is Your Quilting Group Going on a Fabric Shop Crawl? 3 Tips to Plan a Perfect Event
In your quilting circle, sewing is often viewed as an active sport. After all, it takes stamina to go to quilting shows and on fabric shop tours that help your group stay on the cutting edge of the latest developments in fiber arts. While you are excited about being involved in the planning of your upcoming fabric shop crawl, you might also be a little nervous about making sure that everything goes as planned.
Use these tips to plan an event that caters to the needs of everyone in the group while making sure that you hit all of the critical hot spots on your tour.
Create Your Itinerary
The average one-day quilt shop crawl includes stops at about three to five different venues. However, these shops may all be spread out in different cities, which makes timing critical. Identify how long you expect to travel between each shop, and make sure that the traveling time is included on your schedule. Then, add in a lunch break and a little cushion time for loading and unloading the bus so that no one feels rushed on the trip. Once the itinerary is created, make copies to share with each member of the group so that they all know what to expect.
Keep Everyone Together
One of the biggest mistakes first-time shop crawl planners make is thinking that everyone can drive their personal vehicles. While this may seem the simplest route, it often leads to issues such as people arriving separately or experiencing issues with their cars that ruins the fun. After all, no one wants to miss picking up a critical piece of the pattern because they got stuck changing their tire. Arrange for a charter bus through services like First Class Charter to fit all of the members of your group into one place. This way, you can all arrive on time together and bond as you enjoy the sights.
Plan for Special Needs
Each member of your quilting group is as unique as their stitching technique. Sit down and think what each member of your team may need to stay comfortable. For instance, you might want to make sure that your charter van or bus has wheelchair access if a member of your group has mobility challenges. Alternatively, you may need transportation with extra storage if you expect to engage in some extreme fabric shopping. Either way, planning for every possible contingency makes it clear that you care about your role as a host.
Make this year's quilt shop crawl the best one ever by paying careful attention to every detail. By setting up the itinerary and transportation well ahead of time, you can relax and enjoy planning the little surprises along the way that make these trips so much fun.
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