Sew Many Places with Jim

Where to start……………….well, how about the food and wine?  I mean, come on, how can anyone think they are going to Tuscany and not going to enjoy the delicious homemade Italian food and that incredible Tuscany and Chianti wines, right?  Well our entire group did really well in both categories.  We went to two different wineries, one where we actually participated in a Tuscany Cooking class, taught by a retired professional chef.  We called him “papa” and he was as charming as one could ever imagine.  Our group learned to make homemade pasta, crostini, limoncello and a wonderful meat sauce.

BEING THAT OUR ITALIAN "PAPA" IS A TRUE ITALIAN MALE, ONE OF OUR QUILTERS RECEIVED SOME SPECIAL ATTENTION. (YOU CAN USE YOUR IMAGINATION!)

We also enjoy the luxury of staying at a deluxe five star hotel, which was our home the entire time we were there.  How nice it was to unpack just once and go out each day to some fantastic places-Siena, Florence, Vinci, the Cinque Terre, Viareggio, San Gimignano, San Donato and Montecatini Terme and Alto.

THE PICTURESQUE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE OF MONTECATINI ALTO.

We traveled with a quilter’s eye, and saw incredible architecture, cosmoti tile floors, unique moldings inside museums and basilicas and learned from expert tour guides about the different places we visited.

I SEE A QUILT BLOCK, HOW ABOUT YOU?

Truly and extraordinary tour and everyone who participated were wonderful people with a great sense of fun and humor.  So of course we did a lot of laughing on this trip!

At the end of our tour, some of the group went home and 8 others traveled to Rome with me to enjoy three days of joy in the Eternal City.  We visited the Vatican, went on a Panoramic Tour of Rome, visited the beautiful Tivoli Gardens and Fountains and had a wonderful time capturing all the exciting things this wonderful cityhas to offer.

Truly a truimphant experience, and one that all of us will remember in years to come!

I want to say a special Grazie to our bus driver Adriano and also our terrific guides during our expedition.  They were all fantastic!

ELEANOR WITH A TASTE OF BAVARIA

I have just returned from a 10-day exciting tour to Germany, Austria and Bavaria with quilt legend, Eleanor Burns, and I want to say, it was absolutely one of the best trips in every way. The intimate group that we traveled with was spoiled with gorgeous weather (it rained only once), spectacular sights, a family owned hotel in a small Bavarian village and in the city of Munich, delicious food, an incredible and memorable Bavarian festival, a terrific motorcoach driver and private bus (both girly and manly bus-inside joke) and the very special quilt classes that both Eleanor and her talented associate Sue Bouchard provided for the group.

I think one of the big reasons this trip was so successful was because the group we traveled with were fantastic!!  Really fun people, with a good sense of humor, completely responsible for being on time and considerate of others, and on the tour for one reason only – to enjoy themselves and the others around them!  I love them all, truly.

On many of our European tours we do have husbands who join us, and on our Germany tour, we had two “token” husbands” who traveled with us, and both Phil andKen fit right in and were just as much a part of the group as any of the ladies.

SUE BOUCHARD and husband KEN

From visiting some of the location sights that were used in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, to marveling at the breathtaking view from on top the “Eagle’s Nest” high in the Bavarian Alps, it was a tour to remember!  I even had the opportunity to shoot the cover photo for our upcoming December issue of Quiltposium Magazine! (Thanks Sue!)

DO, RE, MI STEPS FROM THE SOUND OF MUSIC

All in all, everything fell into place better than anyone could have ever hoped for, and those of us who participated will remember this tour in years to come!

QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE

I’ve been reading a lot of emails from quilters from around the world and it appears Quiltposium Magazine is something many of them have been looking for for a long time.  The best review I read was that a lady said “Quiltposium is a Quilt Symposium!” I love that one!

We realize that there are some people who don’t have the software loaded in their computer to read the magazine, so we are going to be providing an easy way to download it on your computer so you can view it. Also, in hindsight, we realize, it is a lot easier to have the print larger, even though there is a magnifying glass provided on the screen to increase the size.  Our next issue will address this so it is an easier read.

But I have to say, I am so thankful and appreciate so much ,the kind and supportive comments that continue to come in.  I also want to thank my staff who work really, really hard on this first issue, especially Mandy, Angie and Rachel. Good job ladies!

Finally I want to thank our celebrity writers who provided incredible work in this first issue.  I can’t wait to read their next articles!

If you haven’t registered yet to see the magazine, go to www.Quiltposium.com and do so. It’s a really fun read and very informative!

I feel like a father who is waiting in the waiting room at a hospital for his wife to give birth to their first child!!!  This afternoon, we are launching the first issue of our “little baby,”  QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE.  I am so excited as you can well imagine.

I wanted to let you know, those of  you who have registered, you  will receive an email from us that is connected to a link to view the magazine. 

Also, and this is really important, EVERY ISSUE OF QUILTPOSIUM IS FREE!!  I am saying this, because sometimes people provide a free magazine only with the first issue, but EVERY ISSUE is FREE, the one in December, March, June, September, December, etc.  EVERY ISSUE, not just one!

Thanks everyone, I am so excited, I almost want to start handing out the cigars right now! 

I wanted to update all of you about our brand new QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE.  We are now over 112,000 sign ups, quilters who have registered to see their free copy.  Isn’t that insane?!!!

I am bouncing off the walls with the response we have received so far, and having this many quilters reading the magazine makes this a pretty substantial publication.  It is my goal to have over 150,000 registered by the next issue, which comes out in December.

If any of you have not signed up to receive your FREE COPY, go to www.Quiltposium.com and just put your name, email and password in, and you are done.  It will take about 15 seconds to do this.

Also, please help us spread the word about the magazine………tell your quilting friends, local quilt shop, quilt guild members and anyone else who wants to read it!

We are giving away a FREE TRIP and six other terrific prizes, drawing names from those who are registered before our first issue launches on Tuesday.  So who knows, you might just win a free trip for signing up to read the magazine!

Just thought I’d give you the update.

And one more thing, the India tour we have with Jinny Beyer is now completed, and it is absolutely incredible!!!!!  Be watching for that announcement in the next day or so.

Starting with the launch of our new magazine Quiltposium on September 1st, we will be accepting photographs you have taken on any of our Sew Many Places Expeditions, Tours, Cruises or Jim West Quiltaway Program from when we first started the company, and awarding a $1000 cash prize every quarter to the best photograph entered.

That right, $1000 in cash every three months will be given out for the best photograph we have received!  Our ten person group of judges consists of photographers, quilters and creative people who will judge the best photograph showing an excellent use of color, creativity, humor, design or overall composition.

So if you have traveled with us in the past, send your photograph via email to me Jim@SewManyPlaces.com and you will be entered in the contest.  Remember this contest only applies to those of you who have traveled with us on a Sew Many Places trip!

And for those of  you on any of our upcoming trips, be sure you send your photos to us after your trip ,and you will be entered in the next group of photographs to be judged.

Say cheese and smile! 

www.Quiltposium.com   Be sure you are registered to receive our FREE online magazine on Sept 1st!

I have just returned last night from our very first JIM WEST QUILTPOSIUM PROGRAM-Amish Quilts and Gardens Tour, and I have to say, it was a success on every level.  Our group of quilters and their husbands were some of the best people I’ve had the opportunity to meet and travel with.  They came from Texas, California and all over the Midwest to join us on this very special tour.

Adding to this mix, was quilt legend Kaye England, who (as usual) was incredibly funny, helpful and informative!

This Thursday-Sunday event captured the true essence of Amish Quilting- visiting Amish owned fabric shops (can you say Yoder?), traveling through the Amish countryside, enjoying the day at the Amish settlement of Shipshewana, and staying at the charming Amish hotel-the Essenhaus.  (I swear this hotel was built with quilters in mind!)

The very special quilted gardens, some filled with up to 10,000 flowering plants, were awesome.  Colorful, meticulous, and each with a different design pattern.  It was inspiring to everyone, as we traveled from garden to garden.

The food we ate during our tour was good ole home cooking, and I think the group would say, even the chicken was a special treat!! 

Another highlight from the tour was attending a performance of  ‘QUILTERS-THE MUSICAL.’  An inspiring show that made us laugh outloud and then got us choked up as we recalled how special it is to be a quilter and the impact we have to people in our lives.

I can’t say enough of how much fun we had on this tour, and I hope those of you who couldn’t join us this year, will be able to join us next year when we go again.  It is already scheduled and the hotel is booked.  Contact Jaci in our office if you are interested in signing up. We are limiting the space on this tour, as it has proven to be one of the great assets to the success.  Jaci@SewManyPlaces.com

Thanks again to all of you who joined us, and I hope you have a wonderful quilting day!

Hi everyone!

For the past six months I have been working on our brand new magazine that will be launching in less than a month now called QUILTPOSIUM-Living and Traveling with a Quilter’s Eye.  This ground breaking, online quarterly magazine will hit the internet on September 1st, and I am convinced it will be something quilters will be talking about all over the world.

The magazine was briefly mentioned on Facebook yesterday by Matt Sparrow, who is one of the writers in the magazine, and over 5500 quilters registered in one day!!  Can you believe it!?   I am totally jazzed about this as you can imagine, because not only is this going to be a very high tech travel brochure featuring all our expeditions, cruises, tours and Jim West Quiltposium Programs, (currently 45 and counting), but it will feature the biggest names in the quilt industry………………JINNY BEYER, KAYE ENGLAND, RICKY TIMS, ELEANOR BURNS, ALEX ANDERSON, PAM HOLLAND, MEG COX, RITA FISHEL, DEBBIE HOMER, HD WILBANKS, ALEX VERONELLI, CHARLOTTE ANGOTTI, VICKI TRACY, ANDREA BISHOP, DOUG EAGLESON, LUANA RUBIN, KATHY BLANK, PAT SLOAN, JILL REICKS, PRINCESS MIRAH and many others!

Unlike paper magazines that you have to pay for, this magazine is “green friendly” and will feature very unique articles from all of these wonderful celebrities, and will provide great recipes, gardening tips, offer free giveaways and patterns you can easily download, video travel tips, and a very special section called a QUILTER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, where you can travel from quilt block to quilt block for shopping opportunities.

And each issue will feature a very special CENTERFOLD!!  Yes you heard me right, a never before seen centerfold in a quilt magazine featuring a quilt celebrity. And our first issue will of course show off legendary quilter Kaye England like you’ve never seen her before!!  Trust me, you are not going to believe what she is up to in our centerfold!

I can’t spill the beans about everything right now, but let me just tell you, this magazine is going to be one of the coolest things you’ve seen in the quilting industry in a long time!

In order to receive your FREE COPY of Quiltposium Magazine, you must register.  It will take about ten seconds to do this, so click here  www.Quiltposium.com and on September 1st we will send you a link so you can view this 150+ page online magazine for FREE. 

I will be talking a lot about the magazine this month, so be watching my blog daily so you don’t miss anything.

We anticipate there will be over 100,000 quilters signed up by the end of the month and we want you to one of them.  Also, be sure to tell your friends, your local quilt shop and your quilt guild about it.  We will have a special section for quilt guilds, in addition to a great article about running a business for quilt shop owners in our first issue.

QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE………are you ready………let the registration begin!

the names QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE and QUILTER’S NEIGHBORHOOD are registered trademark names and can not be used without written permission from Travel Alliance, Inc.  if you are interested in advertising in this magazine, please contact Rachel at Rachel@Quiltposium.com

As we continue to span the globe, bringing quilters to unique and very special places, one of the trips Sew Many Places continues to improve on is our Batiking Tour in Bali.  And as we fine tune that particular destination, we are very pleased and honored to have onboard with our tour planning team, Princess Mirah Designs-Bali Fabrics.

  www.Bali-Fabrics.com

We are incredibly excited that Princess Mirah herself (yes she is a real princess!) and her husband Carl Burman are taking time to assist in planning our incredible Batiking in Bali tour.  Here is part of an email she has sent to us regarding our exclusive arrangement with her:

I was reading in your itinerary that you plan to have quilt class on Sept 9. May I suggest that the Palace is a nice place for your quilt class, under a pavillion, surrounded by gardens. Of course, if there is anything you need besides chairs for the class, let me know.

After the quilt class at the palace on the 9th I suggest we go to Tirttha Ganga Water Palace, built by my grandfather The King, only 15 minutes away from the palace by car. It’s a magical site, and you are all welcome to refresh yourself in the spring water ponds. The spring water is known to rejuvenate both health and spirits. After a dip in the pond, we can arrange an early dinner at the restaurant in Tirttha Gangga Water Palace, or if you prefer, you may depart for the hotel in Nusa Dua to have dinner there.

Please let me know if you think having a light lunch with some of the king’s favorite food and a quilt class at the palace, a spring bath and Indonesian dinner at Tirtha Gangga Water palace sounds like a good ideas, and I will start making arrangements.”

I don’t know about you, but I think these very special additions to our already exciting Bali tour are going to be spectacular!  Could this get any better than to go to an incredible destination like Bali and be treated like royalty?!  

There is really no other Batik Fabric company that comes close to the quality and design of Princess Mirah Designs, and we appreciate the opportunity to be affiliatiated with them.  Anyone who buys their fabric can feel the passion, love and hard work that goes into making every single thing they produce.

The experience on our Batiking in Bali tour is available to just a handful of quilters, so be sure you place your deposit before the waitlist begins.  It will be something beyond your wildest dreams and certainly a once in a lifetime exotic vacation, thanks in part to Bali Fabrics, Princess Mirah and all our friends in the enchanting Island of Bali.

After an impressive meeting this morning with Sherry Nugent, founder and editor of Irish Quilting Magazine, I am pleased to announce the very exciting partnership between both our companies.   Sherry is a very savy businesswoman and understands the quilting industry in Ireland better than anyone I have ever met.  Both her and her magazine are without doubt the leading force behind anything Irish quilting, sewing and patchwork.  www.IrishQuilting.ie

Irish Quilting Magazine

So without spilling the beans on everything we are planning, I can tell you that besides the usual sightseeing that every tour company provides, we will be incorporating some very unique and special facets to all our Ireland tours, based primarily because of Sherry’s connections to the best quilting and patchwork artists, quilt guilds, unique quilting venues, quiltshops, not to mention the very special Irish products she has right in her own backyard.

And not only will Sew Many Places be bringing quilters to Ireland on a regular basis (6 tours in 2010 and 10 tours in 2011), but we will also be planning tours for quilters in Ireland to travel to the United States, sail on European Cruises and participate in many of the tours we are currently offering to quilters.

If I sound excited, it’s because I am.  And if you want to see Ireland in grand style, and participate in a once in a lifetime event as a quilter, Sew Many Places is the perfect choice in providing you with the best that the Emerald Isle has to offer.