PADUCAH

My whirlwind trip to Paducah is now a thing of the past.  It is hard enough when you travel somewhere only to stay there 2 days, but when the US government gets involved to screw up the air traffic controllers, it is a complete fiasco.  Considering that I flew through Newark last Thursday, where average delays were on the order of 4+ hours, I am lucky to have even made it all the way to Kentucky.

The show was everything I expected and more.  400 of the world's best quilts all under one roof.  I really appreciate getting to see the hand-made and hand-quilted quilts also, since this was me 5 years ago.  The Japanese dominate the handwork categories, and rightfully so.  Their quilts are just stunning.  I have opted to not post a ton of photos because the angles that they were hanging made it really hard to get photos of many quilts.  If you get a chance to get to this show, even if you don't have a quilt in it, go running.

I got 2 quilts accepted..."Intertwined" did not ribbon.  I sort of goofed on this one I think.  Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20.  I entered it in the "small quilts - 1st Paducah entry" category, which had 38 entrants.  I should have just entered in the "small quilts - longarm quilted" category.  I think it may have even placed, as this category had 15 quilts entered.  The upshot of this is that I am still eligible to enter it at another AQS show, and I may try it again at Paducah next year.

My "Zen Garden" quilt, however, received Honorable Mention in the Large wall - longarm quilted category. This was a large category, stacked with a tremendous amount of talent (many quilts that probably beat this quilt at other shows!).  I am fortunate to have gotten this award.  OK, you have to squint to see the small white ribbon.  Sadly, the HM's don't get the traditional Dogwood bloom ribbon that Paducah is known for.  But since I was there, I spoke to one of the AQS gals that puts this show together, and she is sending me a dogwood florette.  Such nice service :-) 

I managed to buy a modest amount of fabric, mostly for my next quilt that is started (the dahlia).  I also grabbed 8-10 cones of thread, some hand quilting stencils, a 2014 Quilt Arts calendar that a quilt I quilted last year is in, and a few other odds and ends.  I had the crazy pleasure of shopping at Hancocks of Paducah.  OMG...if I lived there I'd need another job.  No cheap fabric in that place!

Time to get busy finishing some client quilts before my kids finish school!