Belfast Quilt Fayre Retreat

Meet Janet and your Arena Travel Tour Manager at Heathrow airport for your flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland’s capital. Upon arrival you will take a short transfer to your hotel. This afternoon we will enjoy a guided walking tour of Belfast, capturing the city’s main attractions and discovering its hidden treasures. This evening’s welcome dinner is a chance to get to know Janet and your fellow stitchers.

Today we will enjoy a full day workshop with Janet at the hotel. Enjoy starting your applique and pieced quilt.

This evening, there will be free time for an early dinner before being picked up and transferred to the Stormont Hotel, where the quilt festival is being held. Here, we will meet Yvonne McAtamney who owns Village Fabrics, patchwork and quilting shop in England and has a special interest in all things Japanese. Yvonne McAtamney together with Margaret Lee is one of the founder members of the Quilt Fayre event we will be visiting later this week.

This evening we will enjoy her talk ‘Design and Colour in my Japanese Quilts’ and see some samples of her work.

We will start the day with a half day workshop at the hotel with Janet. After lunch we will be picked up and driven to the Titanic Belfast for the afternoon. During your time at Titanic Belfast, you will discover the world’s most authentic retelling of the iconic story through multiple interactive galleries.

Today we have a full day at Belfast’s annual quilt fayre at the Stormont Hotel. Spend the day at leisure browsing stands, shopping for fabrics, demonstrations, and workshops as well as talks from crafting experts.

The Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum originally focused on the local history of Lisburn and in 1994 is expanded with the opening of the Irish Linen Centre. On our visit this morning we will enjoy a guided tour called ‘Flax to Fabric’ an exhibition on the history of Irish Linen. You will be guided through the history of linen and its manufacturer and how it has developed. Capture the sense of the lives of workers in Ulster’s domestic linen industry before industrialisation. Learn about weaving, spinning and see staff operating a series of looms, including two Jacquard looms.

This afternoon, we will return to the Quilt Fayre.

Today we will visit Ulster Folk Museum and enjoy a guided tour around the open-air museum where original quilts are displayed in authentic historic settings. The museum also has skilled craft workers who provide regular demonstrations of traditional craft skills including patchwork, weaving, embroidery, lacemaking, hand spinning and dress making – all in the setting of early 1900’s in Ulster.

We will return to the hotel in the afternoon for another workshop with Janet.

A full day workshop with Janet at the hotel is on the itinerary today.

You will also enjoy your last evening with your fellow stitchers and Janet at dinner.

This morning enjoy a leisurely breakfast before checking out of the hotel and taking a transfer to the airport for your flight back to London.