Were you part of the historic debut of Road@Home?
January 20 – 23, 2021 was the debut of Road@Home, Road to California’s online quilters conference. Road@Home wasn’t simply a virtual version of our premier in-person event. It quickly became a stand-alone experience enjoyed by participants from all over the world. Teacher Heather Kojan commented, how the debut of Road@Home provided the opportunity for many teachers (including herself) and students to participate in a Road to California show where in the past, it was too time and distance prohibitive to join in.
Debut of Road@Home Classes
Offering an online show enabled Road to offer the most classes ever along with the most teachers than ever before. The faculty roster listed over 130 instructors teaching well over 300 classes. Quilt Making, Professional Development for Quilters, and Fabric Art classes provided a well-rounded offering to choose from.
Attendance varied from class to class. Some classes were “sold out” (like Road to California’s award winning quilter Nancy Prince’s) and others just a handful of students. Cyndi McChesney’s “Math for Quilter’s class” had just four students who appreciated the “individual attention” they received. Said one student, “This was a really great class. I was so glad there was only four of us.”
In addition to the half-day and all-day classes, the debut of Road@Home also offered Road’s traditional Lecture Classes. The Lectures were presented by Road@Home faculty and lasted any where from one to one and a half hours. Participants could sign up for a lecture up to one hour before the session started and the cost was just $20.
Debut of Road@Home Vendors
Even though it was an online show, participants could still shop with over 40 vendors who offered special Road@Home deals throughout the show. Sponsors like Moore’s Sewing Center, SewBatik, and Cherrywood Fabrics delighted participants with videos of their featured products.
Special Exhibits
What’s a quilt show without quilts? Road@Home participants were treated to 1,000’s of quilts to view. While scaled down, awards were still presented to quilts entered in the debut of Road@Home’s quilt contest. Entrants submitted their quilts in three categories: “Could be Grandma’s Quilt,” “What You See,” and “What you think you see.”
The unique Special Exhibit was presented by Martingale and featured the professional photographs found in 33 of their new and popular titles.
Special Announcements
The debut of Road@Home also provided a platform for three new Road to California projects:
It’s Sew Road, a weekly talk show format featuring Road to California’s owner, Matt Reese, and quilt personality, Linda Hahn. Beginning in March, tune in to Road’s YouTube Channel to see interviews of famous people in the quilting world plus lots of quilt silliness.
Road@Home Education is happening May 21 – 23, 2021 and will be a show that traces its origin back to the beginning of Road to California when it was simply an educational conference.
The International Sewing Arts Festival will debut January 13 – 15, 2022, the weekend before the traditional, in-person Road to California happening January 19 – 22, 2022 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario California. ISAF is a first of its kind conference dedicated to sewing: sewing for garments, sewing for home décor, and general sewing.
Look for blog articles soon that will dive deep into each of these events.
The debut of Road@Home was a leap of faith to meet the need of providing a quality online quilt show in the time of a worldwide pandemic. We were pleased with the results and look forward to expanding Road to California’s online presence as we prepare for our traditional offering in-person show in 2022.
