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Monday, April 5th

Today we begin our exciting deluxe quilting tour of England with an overnight nonstop flight from Boston to London. The flight leaves the Boston Logan Airport at 9:30pm. A light dinner snack will be served onboard the plane during our flight. D

Tuesday, April 6th

This morning we will be served breakfast onboard the plane before it arrives at the London Heathrow Airport at approximately 8:45am. We will collect our luggage, pass through customs formalities and meet our motorcoach driver and private guide. From the airport, we will begin a 3.5 hour PANORAMIC TOUR OF LONDON. We will drive past many recognizable sights like the Tower of London, Harrods Department Store, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Temple Station, Notting Hill, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, the West End, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalger Square, and more. We will then drive to our deluxe hotel, the Churchill Hyatt Regency Hotel, located in the central part of LONDON. We will check into our rooms, unpack and relax for the remainder of the afternoon. Tonight, before dinner, Jim West from Sew Many Places will welcome our group with a Champaign toast and brief orientation. We will then make our way to the dining room for a delicious “welcome dinner” that is sure to satisfy our appetites. The remainder of the evening is at your leisure. B, D

Wednesday, April 7th

This morning, following a delicious buffet breakfast at that hotel, we will visit the spectacular Victoria & Albert Museum. We have a very special VIP pass for our group to view their outstanding collection of patchwork quilts and tapestries. A private curator from the museum will provide an extraordinary tour for our group. The remainder of the afternoon is free for you to enjoy at the museum or to do anything you wish. Tonight, our group will meet for dinner and talk more about our special day. B, D

More about what we will see at the museum: This exhibition will showcase a collection of patchwork and quilted covers to bring together over 300 years of British quilting history, from the spectacular bed hangings and silk coverlets of the 18th century, to the creative reinvention of the quilt by contemporary artists. Each quilt has a unique story to tell, revealed under the broader themes of consumerism, luxury and utility, creativity and confinement, taste, the domestic interior, travel, national and regional identity, and commemoriation. The exhibition will celebrate the astonishing vision involved in the design and making of each quilt, and attempt to unravel some of the complex and individual narratives embedded in its history.

More information about quilts and textiles at the Victoria & Albert Museum: Quilting can be traced back at least to the Middle Ages. Examples from Europe, India and the Far East can be seen in the Museum, but quilting has also been practised in Persia, Turkestan and Moslem Africa. The word `quilt' seems to have first been used in England in the 1200s, and connects with the Latin word ‘cucita’ meaning a bolster or cushion. Quilting usually means two layers of fabric sandwiching a thickish padding or interlining, all held together by lines of stitching. However, it is not essential to have the middle layer; for instance in early 18th-century English quilting, just the two outer layers of fabric were used, and in 'Italian' or corded quilting, strands of cord or thick wool are threaded between parallel lines of stitching to make the raised pattern.

Quilting Stitches
In any quilting, the stitching is very important. It can be just basic running stitch or back stitch, but each stitch has to be made individually to make sure it catches all the layers. In quilts where the stitching is laid down in decorative patterns, it can be extremely fine work. Traditional titles for many popular stitching patterns include such names as Broken Plaid, Hanging Diamond, Twisted Rope or True Lovers' Knot. Because of the large areas to be dealt with, for example on bed covers, it is very easy for quilt making to become a social occasion where lots of people share the sewing. Particularly in America, where early settlers from England and Holland established quilting as a very popular craft, there is still the tradition of a quilt-making 'bee' for a girl about to get married, with the aim of stitching a whole quilt in one day.

Uses of Quilted Fabric
The earliest quilting was used to make bed covers: very fine quilts are often mentioned in inventories from medieval times and frequently became family heirlooms. In the Middle Ages quilting was also used to produce clothing that was light as well as warm. It was also used for protective wear such as the padded jackets worn under armour to make it more comfortable or even, if very thick, as the top layer for people too poor to afford metal armour. Quilting was at its most popular in this country in the 17th century: in the early years for the quilted silk doublets and breeches worn by wealthy courtiers, and later on for petticoats, jackets and waistcoats. In England during the 17th century, the desire to create interesting sculptural effects on textiles led to amazing heights of artistry in the hands of skilled needleworkers wanting to decorate boxes such as jewel caskets or make framed three-dimensional scenes. Various embroidery stitches could easily create a textured surface on a fabric with just yarn, for instance laid or couched work, where threads are laid across the fabric and then stitched down, French knots, or Turkey work, where knots are hand tied exactly like a pile carpet. However, there was also an exciting range of trimmings such as lace, cords, tassels, beads, seed pearls, metal sequins (spangles) or even pins arranged so that the heads made a decorative pattern as in pinstuck pincushions, which could be utilised to further decorate or raise the surfaces.

Thursday, April 8th

This morning after breakfast, we will travel north to the charming town of HUNTINGDONSHIRE, and the Manor at Hemingford Grey, where we will visit the home and garden of Lucy Boston. Lucy was the author of the Green Knowe series of children's books and is also famous worldwide as the maker of exquisite English patchwork quilts. We will stop for lunch before returning back to our hotel and the afternoon. The remainder of the day is free for you to enjoy on your own. B, L

The Green Knowe Books
The Green Knowe stories were set in the house, along the river Great Ouse and in the village. The rooms, the furniture and toys featured in the books remain in place. Visiting the house is to walk into the stories. Visitors stand in the same place their heroes stood. Look out of the same windows at the same, virtually unchanged gardens. The gardens at the manor are famous for their collection of roses and irises. The Topiary chess pieces were planted by Lucy Boston to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1952 and fifty plus years later are surely looking as she intended.

The Patchwork Quilts
The patchwork quilts still lie on the beds they were made for and in the sequence they were made. The exquisite designs and needlework are made all the more wonderful when visitors hear the stories behind the reasons for their design and where the materials came from. Visitors from all over the world come to marvel at the detail and craftsmanship Lucy Boston displayed in the making of these quilts.Some visitors will arrive, perhaps knowing nothing of one the sides of this remarkable woman’s talents. Childhood readers of the books will discover the author's quilting fame. Quilters arriving to see quilts will leave owning books to read to their children and Grandchildren.

The Garden
From the secret Garden you will be able to see the original front of the house. The house has been much changed during its nine hundred year life but the original Norman building still stands. The house was greatly extended in the 18th century but these extensions were largely destroyed by fire in 1798. Lucy Boston used the story of the fire as inspiration for one of the Green Knowe stories. The house was extended for the family of the Gunning sisters who were born in the 1730s. They lived in the house and were reputed to be the most beautiful girls in England. They went on to marry important and wealthy husbands, as beautiful girls still do today.

Friday, April 9th

Today, following breakfast, we will check out of our hotel and drive to bustling city of BATH. We will travel through some of England’s most charming little towns and villages through an area called the Cotswolds. Along the way, we will see the famous tourist attraction of STONEHENGE. There will be a brief stop for photographs and lunch before arriving at our hotel, the MacDonald Bath Spa Hotel, one of the Leading Hotels of the World. Once we arrive, we will check into our rooms, and the remainder of the afternoon and evening are free for you to enjoy on your own. B, L

Saturday, April 10th

This morning following a delicious breakfast, we will travel to the American Museum in Bath where we will see extraordinary early American quilts. This is the finest collection of American quilts located outside the United States. Following our visit to the museum, we will enjoy a PANORAMIC TOUR OF BATH with a local professional guide. We will learn more about the history and see some of the famous local sights including Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge, the Roman Baths, Royal Crescent, and more. The afternoon will be free to enjoy at your leisure. Tonight, we will all enjoy dinner at a local restaurant. B, D

Sunday, April 11th

Today following an early breakfast, we will check out of our hotel and drive northeast through the Cotswolds again until we reach the charming town of STRATFORD UPON AVON. We will have time for lunch, shopping and sightseeing on our own. Stratford Upon Avon is the home of William Shakespeare, and you will have time to visit some of the sights related to this famous author, including Shakespeare’s home and the Old Globe Theater. In the early afternoon, we will continue our drive to the city of MANCHESTER, until we arrive at our deluxe hotel, the MacDonald Manchester Hotel and Spa. Tonight we will all enjoy a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. B, D

Monday, April 12th

Today following breakfast, we will drive to the enchanting city of YORK. Without doubt, the city of York is a “not to be missed” place for quilters and textile artists, especially when we visit the St. Anthony’s Guildhall, home of the Quilt Museum and Gallery. Here we will enjoy a private tour of the museum which is operated by the 6000 member Quilter’s Guild of the British Isles.

Historic highlights of the museum include a silk coverlet dated 1718 – one of the earliest known patchwork pieces and the Guild's star item. Its delicate squares and shapes include heraldic type motifs, geese and four-legged friends. Incredibly, this delicate coverlet is on display without any glass protection, so you can appreciate it fully.

Another centuries-old piece you cannot fail to miss is the large kaleidoscopic patchwork by Elizabeth Watson from the late 1800s. Its spectacularly bright reds, purples, blues and yellows derive from the fact it was 'made for her bottom drawer', but she never married, and it has stayed in drawers and trunks ever since.

This contrasts with more demure and faded quilts from the last two centuries, which are hung cheek by jowl with experimental contemporary works such as one made from recycled bin bags by Michelle Walker.

Other contemporary works take unexpected figurative subjects such as motorbike racers (Ruth Parker, 2007) and even an aerial view of Spaghetti Junction (Pauline Barnes, 2003)! A separate room shows a group of thoughtful contemporary works with a more conceptual basis. Just be careful you don't step back into the three-dimensional artwork of tumbling organza blocks while you're looking at Bethan Ash's collage-style work, 'Cutting the carbs – applying the lbs'. Many of the modern pieces use precisely the same techniques that were used in the past, meaning they can take up to 500 hours to complete by hand. In the case of patchwork, each individual shape must be created and sewn together by hand.

'Wholecloth' quilts require often intricate designs to be traced onto the material, which is placed on top of wadding and then sewn over in tiny stitches by hand. The results are often given as gifts, and should be rightly prized.

Machine-sewn quilts, which could take as little as a day to make, are just as decorative and certainly look more fitting for the wall than the bed.

There will be plenty of time to explore the museum on your own, and enjoy the rest of your day shopping and sightseeing in the central part of the city. Without doubt, YORK will be a very special place you’ll remember for years to come. We will drive back to our hotel in the late afternoon and relax before dinner. Tonight we will enjoy a very special “farewell dinner” and bring our extraordinary tour to a close. B, D

Tuesday, April 13th

Today, following breakfast, we will check out of our hotel, and drive to the Manchester Airport for a very quick flight to LONDON. Once in London, we will change planes for our international non-stop flight back to BOSTON, where we will arrive at approximately 6:30pm. Lunch and dinner snacks will be served onboard the plane. B, L, D

This itinerary, pricing and escorts are subject to change. Insurance is available and highly recommended. Space is limited and based on first come, first served. Single rates are available upon request. Please consult the Terms and Conditions located on our website, as they apply once the first deposit is received.