The Art + Craft of Route 66

I happened to visit Flagstaff the year Route 66 celebrated its 90th anniversary.

View across Historic Route 66, west of Flagstaff — Historic Route 66 between Flagstaff and Williams, AZ

Now, a decade later, my mom and I will be returning for the famed road’s Centennial Celebration.

Mural in heritage square in flagstaff — Mural by Joe Sorren outside of Diablo Burger in Flagstaff

aRT 66

While we’re there, we’ll also be exploring the art and craft in Route 66 communities – like artisan ceramics, jewelry, food and beverages, sculptures, weaving, mixed media, and murals. We’re planning to visit community craft spaces, quilt shops, museums, artist studios and galleries, historic sites, and more!

Once we’re done, we’ll create a guide, so you’ll be able to visit our favorite spots too!

High Country Motor Lodge, Flagstaff, Arizona — High Country Motor Lodge, Flagstaff

We’re calling the project aRT 66.

And since I’m all about attainable goals, we’re going to start small, exploring the (roughly) 66 miles from Homolovi State Park in Winslow to the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.

rugs from the Hubbel Trading Post on display at Tucson Festival of Books — Rugs from the Hubbel Trading Post on display at Tucson Festival of Books

If we’re able to, we’ll expand our project to visit more of the Route this year, but there’s a lot to see even in that comparatively small section of Northern Arizona.

Is there a place you’d love to visit on Route 66?

Flagstaff Heritage Square — Heritage Square in Flagstaff

More Route 66 Centennial Info

Flagstaff Route 66 Birthday Celebration

6/6 at 10am
In Heritage Square (Historic Downtown Flagstaff)
Full day of festivities: sky writing, live music, craft stations, reenactments, a classic car show, interactive street murals, a photo booth
Activities for kids include balloon animals, face painting, bookmobile with storytelling area, and a coloring station.
At dusk, there will be an outdoor screening of the movie Cars

All Route 66

Find more Route 66 festivities and projects taking place throughout the year on the Route 66 Centennial site.

Route 66 mural outside Matador Coffee Roasting Company, Flagstaff — Matador Coffee Roasting Company, Flagstaff

February 17, 2026April 9, 2026

Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival: Part 2

Updated February 2026.
Originally posted March 2020.

While the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival has great fabric and pattern vendors (some of which we featured in Part 1 of this post), that’s not all that’s there.

Quilt shop clock — Quilt shop cuckoo clock from Cheryl Ann’s Design Walls booth

You can find booths for guilds and organizations devoted to keeping handmade traditions alive. There also are lots of vendors selling tools, embellishments, and materials that go along with quilting and other types of crafting. It’s impressive how many of them have invented, made, or designed the products they’re selling!

Continue reading “Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival: Part 2”

January 28, 2026April 9, 2026

Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival: Patterns + Fabric

Although I haven’t been to the Phoenix Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival since I moved to Tucson, I wanted to update information about the last show I went to and the vendors I met. The 2026 show starts tomorrow (January 29). Not all of these vendors will be there, but plenty more will be participating!

Enjoy!
–S

It’s Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival weekend in Phoenix!

Last year, I went to two days of the Festival – one with my Mom and one with sister-in-law Dinah and friend Kelli.

The first day, we ended up parking in a lot that was actually meant to be for a dog show, which we needed to walk through to get to our Festival.

The second day, I parked there on purpose. We walked past booths of dog stuff and people with impeccably groomed and well-mannered dogs. I really wanted to ask one of them if their dog was available to tutor our little rascal Quijote. But that’s not why we were there.

Walking into the Festival building meant being surrounded by a dazzling array of colors and patterns, handcrafted items, crafty inventions, and big ticket items like long arm sewing machines. It was fun to check in with favorite vendors from the past, meet new ones, and see things I hadn’t before.
Continue reading “Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival: Patterns + Fabric”

August 14, 2025April 10, 2026

Roadside Motel Gets Elevated

The last time we were in Flagstaff we stayed in a cute, recently-renovated motel called Hotel Elev8. It was pet friendly, had free wifi and little local gifts for sale in the lobby.

There’s also an outdoor pool, indoor hot tub, and a sauna – in case you need to warm up or cool off.

When I say the place was recently renovated, I mean some of the construction was still in progress when we were there, but it was already a nice place to stay.

Landscape photography and a "renovations in progress" sign at Hotel Elev8. — Landscape photography and a “renovations in progress” sign at Hotel Elev8.

Location

Hotel Elev8 is about 10 minutes from Downtown Flagstaff. It’s actually right off I-40, which basically follows the historic Route 66.
Continue reading “Roadside Motel Gets Elevated”

May 29, 2025April 9, 2026

Free Admission to Arizona Museums with the Culture Pass

Updated May 2025.
Originally posted November 2017.

Over 30 Arizona museums and attractions offer free passes to local library card holders through the Culture Pass program!

“G’s Horn” sculpture of bronze and living plants by Robert Wick at **Tucson Botanical Gardens.**

What is a Culture Pass?

Culture Passes are a limited number of free admissions to cultural, historic, and other educational sites in Arizona that libraries make available to patrons. It was created by Act One, a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Libraries that offer Culture Passes have a certain number available for each museum, etc. Different libraries have a different selection and number of Culture Passes that they offer.