This week I am opening up my Textile & Costume Tour in Italy, for registration. I have been obsessed with Italy since I was a kid. I read “The Agony and The Ecstasy” so many times the cover fell off and the spine cracked. (Michelangelo biography by Irving Stone) I loved it to death. I almost was an exchange student to Italy, but then my parents got divorced and that was the end of that dream. When I finally went for the first time around the age of 40, I had such a feeling of familiarity. If there is such a thing as past lives, that was at least one of mine.
Since that first trip, I have returned many times, and have made some special friends there. Over the last 10 years I’ve made 3 trips specifically to research for this Textile & Costume tour. It was delayed by the pandemic, but now I am ready to take a group of textile nerds and costume aficionados with me. It is not necessarily for a first-time visitor….but rather for someone who wants a deep enriching experience with the history of Italian textiles and the garments inspired by these beautiful fabrics.
We are traveling the first half of December, right after Thanksgiving, but early enough to get home for the holiday season. Our Alpine Christmas Market extension will be a leisurely swing through the Dolomites, with a daytrip to Innsbruck Austria. Travel to this part of the world in early December means avoiding the heat and the tourists, and enjoying the festive spirit and glittering lights of the season. These days, it is really my favorite time to take this trip.
What will be my favorite experience to share with my travelers? Perhaps the huge costume warehouse that rents out luscious high-end period garments to the film industry and stage productions. Or maybe the day we rent our own costumes and wear them out to dinner and a concert? But then again, sitting in a cafe sipping hot chocolate, enjoying the fairytale historic buildings in a picturesque mountain setting…and if we’re lucky with the sparkle of snow…is just heaven in my book.
Tonight I am leaving on a short trip to England, and I’ll be sharing more art, textile and design inspiration after I return in a week. I hope you enjoy the photos in the links above, and if you’d like to join us in Italy the end of this year, make a deposit now to hold your place, and set up a payment plan.
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
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Travel/Quilt Dates:
May 1-7 – London & Canterbury, UK
June 19-21 – Quilt Canada, Edmonton
July – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August – World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy
