More from Paducah, the spoils

     There were quality vendors and fabric to be had in Paducah during Quiltweek. It was hard to decide what to buy or not buy.

Fabric from Paducah

       I got the bright charm packs from Shannon of FabricsNQuilts. The Kona solids, bought from Hancock's of Paducah, are for a class I am taking this weekend with Sujata Shah in Ithaca, NY with the Tompkins County Quilt Guild. The black and whites are from Quilt in a Day. Hope to use them in my Flowering Snowball Quilt. And the gray is for a pair of pillowcase cuffs. I left so much fabric behind. Some stores bring fabric to the empty storefronts and sell mass quantities.

Hancock's of Paducah, just a smidge portion of the store

Hancock's of Paducah, aisles of fabric by manufacturer,
just one corner

Hancock's of Paducah, warehouse portion with bins of precuts

Warehouse with kits, most made and hanging to see

Notions from Paducah

      Bought my favorite piecing thread from YLI, a glazed thin weight cotton- super for lots of seams like my made fabric. Also, their clear monofilament is great for top stitching my bindings down. It doesn't stretch and is thick enough to see to thread the needle, unlike Monopoly.
      The numbered pins will help when I am taking rows and columns off the design wall. The Basix template works on 2 1/2" squares to make neat blocks, the Kai scissors are a smaller version of what I bought in Houston (love the Kai- light, sharp, great action), and Leader Grips for the edges of a quilt on the longarm instead of a single point clamp. The book is one I have wanted for years and I got for $5 at the hurt book sale.
      This may not seem like a lot, but when you have to carry everything with you all day, it was the best I could do.

The wheels on the bus go around and around and around...

     To Paducah, Kentucky for the AQS Quiltweek. I have dreamed of going and I jumped on a trip offered from Buffalo, NY. However, I think it will be my first and last bus trip. It took 15 hours to get there and 18 to get back. Not enough stops to stretch my legs. I am 5'8" and the seats are made for someone much smaller. I took a lot of work with me like knitting and handsewing, but it is a long ride. Our hotel was um, not great. But Paducah was warm and inspirational. 

    The AQS people know how to put a show together. I am excited to see what they will do in Syracuse as it is a 2 hour drive. The people of Paducah were very hospitable and went out of their way to help any one looking puzzled. They rented tour buses as shuttles to travel to any of the quilt related venues. The churches in the area hosted dinners and lunches for quilters which were awesome. More about that in another blog. 

  I visited the quilt show in the Convention Center, the National Quilt Museum (awesome exhibits and museum, but they allow no photos), Hancock's of Paducah (what can I say about a store this big filled with quilting fabric and super nice staff?), temporary fabric stores, the Historic Finkel building that had vendors and the AQS hurt book sale, and the bubble of vendors at the Convention Center.

   I met Shannon of Fabric N Quilts who let me choose fabric because I won an online giveaway. I chose some bright charm packs. Thank you, Shannon! What a terrific lady!

   I also met a blogger that I have read and corresponded and been inspired by, Sarah Craig of Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I was so thrilled to meet her. I wish I had taken pictures of meeting people and more, but I was brain dead from the ride and ensuing migraines.

  Here is a sample of some quilts I saw that were different from the norm:

Detail from quilt above

Kevin the Quilter's work, Radar

Detail of Radar

This beautiful quilt is an example of a problem I saw.
The quilts were laying on the floor because the supports were too short. I wish they would have made the bars higher so the quilts could have been seen in entirety. These were the bed quilt category and were not incredibly over sized.
I think a big show like this needs to have the quilt display as perfect as can be to show off these masterpieces.