This 11-day journey opens with a quick, textile-focused taste of London (a morning with the Victoria & Albert Museum's costume and textile collection, an afternoon working through Portobello Road and a few of the city's best-loved fabric shops) before the real heart of the trip begins: Wales. From the honey-colored streets of Bath to the secondhand bookshops of Hay-on-Wye, from St Fagans' open-air museum outside Cardiff to the impossibly colorful village of Portmeirion, this tour lingers in Welsh landscapes and craft traditions longer than anywhere else on our calendar this year. You'll ride the narrow-gauge Ffestiniog Railway through the mountains of Snowdonia and wander the walls of Caernarfon Castle before the road finally turns back toward England.

The journey closes in Birmingham with two full days at the Festival of Quilts, one of the UK's largest gatherings for quilters and textile lovers, with exhibitions, vendor halls, and workshops spanning everything from traditional patchwork to contemporary art quilting. Join us for a celebration of the British mountains and castle walls to two full days of world-class quilts, pairing the beauty of the British countryside and rich history with a celebration of textile craft.

Kris Vierra

Kris Vierra has been sewing or quilting for over 20 years. She loves sharing her passion for quilting and all things related to fabric, believing that quilting should be fun and not stressful. Kris teaches at national shows and guilds across the country, and has won numerous national awards for her machine quilting skills over the years. Most recently, Kris won the Best Long Arm Quilting award at AQS Quilt Week Paducah and the PFAFF Master Award for Machine Artistry at the International Quilt Festival Houston. Two of her quilts, Tiger, Tiger and Star of India, are part of the permanent collection at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. Kris is also the author of the Stress Free Quilting® book series. She loves traveling and meeting quilters from around the world. Kris believes that no matter what language you speak fabric is universal.

England's Textile Essentials

• Tour the Victoria & Albert Museum's textile collection, one of the finest in the world, before the trip heads west into Wales

• Browse the antiques and vintage finds of Portobello Road Market, then shop three of London's most beloved fabric destinations: Shaukat Fabrics, MacCulloch & Wallis, and Liberty of London

• Close the journey with two full days at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, one of the UK's largest gatherings for quilters and textile lovers

The Heart of Wales

• Wander the shelves of Hay-on-Wye, the "town of books," known worldwide for its dozens of secondhand bookshops tucked into every corner

• Ride the narrow-gauge Ffestiniog Railway through the mountains of Snowdonia, past valleys, waterfalls, and slate-strewn hillsides on one of the most scenic stretches of the whole trip

• Explore the pastel-colored fantasy village of Portmeirion, an Italian-style creation built into the Welsh coastline

Castles, Countryside & History

• Stand among the ancient stones of Stonehenge, one of the world's most recognizable prehistoric monuments

• Step inside Bath's Roman Baths, an incredibly well preserved bathing complex built almost 2,000 years ago

• Wander the walls of Cardiff Castle and the formidable Caernarfon Castle, two of Wales's most striking fortresses

The tour starts at 1pm on Wednesday, July 21 in London.  The tour ends after breakfast at your leisure on Saturday, July 31 in Heathrow.