Quilter Going Bananas: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Paducah Part 4

Grab a cup of your favourite hot or cold beverage and get comfortable to read the fourth installment of my trip to Paducah last month. Ready? Okay...

I was absolutely amazed I slept last night because I was so giddy with excitement in being in Paducah! The day started with some interesting information, the convention centre was flooded and all the vendors and quilts were relocated to different venues throughout the town. The organizers had less than a day to accomplish this before everything opened on Wed April 27th. I am totally amazed how they accomplished this goal, it was not easy I'm sure.

Anyhow here's a ticket for admission

that we all needed to have some fun!

The first building we go to we get inside and immediately purchase a program

This book proved to be very informative and was a nice souvenir too :^)

Off to admire the quilts and do some shopping at the vendors.
First some quilts

A quilt from the AQS book 3D Folded Blocks by Manitoba quilt authors Geesje Baron and Esther Vermeer.

Quilt made by blogger and quilt author Judy Laquidara

This is a piece made by Manitoba quilt artist Heather Lair which was on display at the Yeiser Art Centre in Paducah while the quilt show was on and to add to the excitement it was sold while we were in Paducah.

This piece I was so happy to see, a quilt made by my friend P and her SIL. I first blogged about this quilt here, please read this incredible story. So a quilt hanging in Paducah made by one of my local friends. How cool and awesome is that? ? ?

My biggest purchase was some 1/2 yard pieces of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The colours in his fabric are just so spectacular it was hard just to choose a few to take home with me.

I also purchased a Supreme Slider and Quilt Halo to help me with my free motion quilting on my DSM. Another purchase was a kit with a pattern and some gorgeous fabric to make a bag for my iPad.

I should also mention we visited the American Quilt Museum but no pics to show since they do not allow photography inside the museum.

However the gift shop was a lot of fun and I purchased some special fabric that Moda produced to celebrate

the 20th Anniversary of the American Quilt Museum called Dogwood Trail. There are a lot of Dogwood trees in the Paducah area so this fabric line is fitting.

Fianlly here's a pic of the cow with a quilt on it's back in front of an ice cream parlour in Paducah. The whole town dresses up in quilts, it so awesome. And the ice cream was really good too!
Hope you enjoyed my summary of the trip. If you ever get a chance you must visit

Paducah, KY also known as Quilt City USA
Until next time...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Paducah Part 3

Grab a cup of your favourite hot or cold beverage and get comfortable to read the third installment of my trip to Paducah last month. Ready? Okay...

Day 3 dawned overcast rainy and cool, just like day 2. On the bus by 7 am (Remember I am NOT a norning person) which was also like day 2. But excitment was building as we were arriving in Paducah later today! I learned about Paducah over 15 years ago and have wanted to go ever since. My dream was finally coming true :^)

We heard on day 2 that Paducah KY had declared a flood emergency. We were all curious what to expect due to this complication. Early afternoon we were passing through an area called Cape Girardeau, Missouri. And guess what happened?

Hail Storm! Yikes! We were all fine but our bus did have some damage :^(

Lunch stop was an interesting place called Lamberts Cafe - the only home of throwed rolls. Throwed rolls? well it's an experience let me tell you, LOL. But all I could think about was getting to Paducah. So we drove on and tried one highway/bridge to cross the Ohio River to get into Paducah.

Nope it's closed.

Drove some more to get to another highway/bridge and

Nope it's closed.

Third try and yes! we finally made it over the river and into Paducah later than expected but safe and sound. We didn't even go to our hotel first but we went to Hancock's of Paducah

Here's a view of what is was like inside at the back of the store in the warehouse area. There were a lot of people shopping but there was so much eye candy in that place! What I liked about the main part of the store was how it was organized. If you were looking for a specific fabric line, first locate aisles with the manufacturer (MODA for example) and then look for the fabric line that you want and voila! there are the fabrics you want. Everything was clearly marked. The store closed at 8 pm and it was off to the hotel to unpack and get some sleep.
Until next time...

Friday, May 20, 2011

Paducah Part 2

Grab a cup of your favourite hot or cold beverage and get comfortable to read the second installment of my trip to Paducah last month. Ready? Okay...

Day 2 dawned overcast rainy and cool. On the bus by 7 am (Remember I am NOT a morning person). Approximately 2:30 pm we arrive at our overnight destination, a place called Amana Iowa. Specifically we were staying at the Amana Colonies. If you have never heard of this place read here.

There are some wonderful buildings in these villages which are preserved beautifully that date by to the 1880s. This building is a good example.

There are art galleries, boutiques and restaurants as well as quilt shops!

One of the quilt shops, Heritage Designs stayed open for us until 7 pm, 2 hours past their normal closing time. The other 2 quilt shops were already enroute to Paducah to be vendors. Chris Davies the owner of Heritage Designs told us that she usually goes to Paducah as a vendor but this year she chose to stay home. Our group was very glad that she did!

Heritage Designs had a fabulous selection of Batik fabrics and Japanese fabrics (Lecien for example). Alot of shopping went on let me tell you, I took it upon myself to help my friends spend their money, LOL. We had dinner at the local inn and Chris Davies, the owner of Heritage Designs gave us a wonderful trunk show of Amana style quilts and how they have changed over the years. It was great end to a fabulous day. Until next time...

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Paducah Part 1

Grab a cup of your favourite hot or cold beverage and get comfortable to read the first installment of my trip to Paducah last month. Ready? Okay...

Monday April 25th up at 5 am (which is a challenge since I am NOT a morning person) and picked up at 5:45 to go to the bus. Alas the bus was not bright pink like last year's bus to Chicago

but a gorgeous teal colour also very visible from far away :^)

Depart at 6:15 and arrive at second pick up spot. On our way at 6:30 am. Lots of chatter going on throughout the bus as well as people slurping their coffee :^) Make our way to the US border 60 miles away. Takes an extra hour due to the detour we needed to take due to flooding. After crossing the border we reach Grand Forks ND at 10 am. A quick trip to JoAnns and Target and it's time to depart at 11 am. Several lovely ladies from Grand Forks joined us on the bus. Now we are really on our way. Woo Hoo!

Around 4 pm we arrived at our first quilt shop of the trip Grubers Quilt Shop. Yippee! During the trip to Chicago last year we visited this shop for (my) the first time. Very nice shop with lots of eye candy. I was happy to go back for another visit. I even spent some money :^)

Regarding spending money on these type of trips: it is tricky because you haven't reached your destination yet and you don't know what fabric loveliness you are going to see elsewhere, right? So I bought some fabric and was very satisfied.

Oh, you want to know what I bought?

Some 1/2 yard cuts of some gorgeous Kaffe Fassett fabric (my first ones ever!)