November 2025: Art & Culture Tour of Japan with Heidi Parkes 50% Deposit
November 2025: Art & Culture Tour of Japan with Heidi Parkes 50% Deposit
Savor the Beauty and Culture of Japan with WMQFA and Award-Winning Artist Heidi Parkes!
November 2-15, 2025
Total Cost: $8,950.00 (two installments: $4,475 non-refundable deposit immediately, $4,475 balance due June 27, 2025. Member discount applies to both payments)
Airfare to/from Japan and airport transfers are at your discretion & cost. Deposit is non-refundable. We encourage you to obtain trip insurance. The trip is limited to 16 people, plus the coordinators and Heidi (20 total).
Cost of the trip is for a single occupancy. Breakfast is included at each hotel.
Experience hand quilting and design inspiration in Japan with artist Heidi Parkes. Featuring sewing time with Heidi (bring a project!), hands-on workshops, arts & culture tours, admission to the Yokohama Quilt Festival, and more, this intimate tour is the perfect way to travel. We will also have several virtual sessions with Heidi prior to departure.
Heidi’s Trip Inspiration statement:
I love to sew while traveling! There's plenty of downtime on trains, in waiting areas, on airplanes, and while resting my feet that I find it's easy to return home with some stitching completed. I'm excited to invite you to join me in sewing and exploring Japan. I first learned about the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi in a ceramics class at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and I'm always eager to deepen my knowledge on this appreciation of the rustic, ephemeral, and collaboration with nature.
Takako is a dear friend and trusted guide. She first took me to Japan in 2024 to see the cherry trees blossom, and this trip to see the autumnal leaves, a quilt exhibition, and to explore more fabrics stores together is going to be a treat. We'll learn about art, food, language, culture, and more, and return home eager to continue our sewing.
Students are very welcome to join me in creating a Travel Diary Quilt, but they are also welcome to bring a project of their choice. Sashiko samplers, embroidery, patchwork, hexies, clothing, stitch journals, anything that can fit into a tote bag will be easy to transport and pull out for some sewing time. We'll meet together on Zoom before embarking on our journey to brainstorm our sewing, learn some of my favorite techniques, and create a strategy for the productive fun that we'll have together!
This trip is for you if:
You are a creative person.
You want to travel with an artist and professional quilter who will help you find creative inspiration as you travel.
You want to travel with a Japanese native who speaks the language and understands the culture.
You want to try wonderful Japanese cuisine.
You want to experience something totally new & different!
What’s Included:
13 nights in 4- and 5-star hotels (breakfast included at all hotels)
Guided English-speaking experiences and tours (tickets included)
Chartered buses and bullet train tickets between cities
Itinerary (Please note, this itinerary is subject to change)
November 2 - Day 1, Tokyo (Dinner included)
Arrival Day + Welcome Dinner
Overnight at Hotel East 21
November 3 - Day 2, Tokyo (Lunch and Dinner included)
Group Sewing with Heidi Parkes
Fabric Shopping
Overnight at Hotel East 21
November 4 - Day 3, Tokyo (Dinner included)
Tokyo Day Tour with a guide
(Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tsukiji Outer Market: Lunch on Your Own)
Kimono & Tea Ceremony Experience, Asakusa
Overnight at Hotel East 21
November 5 - Day 4, Tokyo (Lunch & Dinner included)
Luggage Transfer to Kyoto
Group Sewing With Heidi Parkes
Digital Art Experience
Overnight at Hotel East 21
November 6 - Day 5, Tokyo (Dinner included)
Lunch on your own
Sashiko Museum
Overnight at Hotel Regina Lake Kawaguchi
November 7 - Day 6, Mt. Fuji Area (Lunch & Dinner included)
Oahino Hakkai (Eight Ponds of Oshino) near Mt. Fuji
Bullet Train to Kyoto
Group Sewing with Heidi Parkes
November 8 - Day 7, Kyoto (Lunch included)
Kyoto Day Tour
(Kiyomizu Temple, Sanju Sangendo, Fushimi Inari Shrine; optional: Misuya Needle; Nishiki Market; Nomura Taylor)
November 9 - Day 8 Kyoto (Lunch included)
Free time in Kyoto
Dinner on your own
November 10 - Day 9, Kyoto (Lunch & Dinner included)
Luggage transfer to Tokyo
Kyoto Day Tour
(Thread dyeing factory, Kinkakuji, Daitoku-ji, Nijo Castle, Arashiyama)
November 11 - Day 10, Niigata (Lunch and Dinner included)
Domestic air from Osaka to Niigata (included)
Akiko Ike Workshop in Echizenhama (Instagram: niigata.ginka.mokukinndo)
Hoshina Studio
Overnight at Hotel Nikko Niigata
November 12 - Day 11, Niigata (Lunch and Dinner included)
Tachikawa Weaving Factory
Group Sewing
Bento Box lunch
Bullet Train from Niigata to Tokyo (Train ticket included)
Overnight Grand Nikko Odaiba Tokyo
November 13 - Day 12, Yokohama/Tokyo (Dinner included)
Yokohama Quilt Show
Lunch on your own
Overnight Grand Nikko Odaiba Tokyo
November 14 - Day 13, Tokyo (Lunch & Dinner included)
Shizuka Kusano Japanese Embroidery Workshop
Farewell Dinner
Overnight Grand Nikko Odaiba Tokyo
November 15 - Day 14, Tokyo
Tour ends after breakfast
Activity level of this trip:
• Moderate amount of walking daily which involves stairs, uneven sidewalks and cobblestones, busy train stations, from bus to destination. Please note, Himeji Castle stairs are steep and narrow.
• Must be able to handle your own luggage.
About Heidi Parkes, Artist
Heidi Parkes, courtesy of the artist.
Before Heidi Parkes was born in Chicago, IL in 1982, her grandmother organized a collaborative family quilt to commemorate her birth. Now based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin her quilting and mending celebrate the hand, and her works tug at memories and shared experience. Often using specific textiles, like an heirloom tablecloth, bed sheet, or cloth tea bag, Heidi adds subtle meaning and material memory from the start. Engaging in the worlds of art, quilts, mending, and social media, Heidi is an advocate for the domestic realms, slow stitching, and mindfulness. Find her on Instagram and YouTube. She was the 2024 Pfister Hotel Artist in Residence, and is a 2005 graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Heidi’s SOFT MAGIC exhibition will be at the WMQFA from March 6th to June 8th, 2025.
See this 3-minute Studio Visit on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s3Q-XxWrcYQ
About Takako Willden, Trip Leader, Planner, and Translator
Takako Willden is a native of Niigata, Japan, who lives in Cedarburg, WI, and is a dedicated volunteer at WMQFA. She says of her textile experiences: "I grew up in Japan playing with silk scraps as my maternal grandmother sewed kimono for her clients by hand. I always loved making things - from folding origami papers to sewing doll clothes. I live in the U.S. now – almost 30 years. When my children were young my mother-in-law taught me how to make American quilts for them, I’ve enjoyed the craft ever since.
During a trip back to Japan my love for Boro began. Boro refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles, often clothes or bedding, through piecing, patching and stitching, in order to extend their use. It started when I found a vintage Japanese Ikat bedding fabric at an antique shop in Japan. Now I enjoy making quilts using Japanese Boro and big running stitches."
