My Trip to AQS Quilt Show Paducah

There were 59 quilters and enthusiast from quilt guilds in and around Memphis traveling to Paducah. We left about 6am. Our driver Bennie headed toward Lakeland, TN to pick up 4 quilters.  We arrived shortly after 10am and rushed through the doors of the convention center. We had 5 hours to shop and look at quilts.  My plan was 2 hours to gaze at quilts, 2 hours to shop, with rest and snack break, and 1 hour to visit the Quilt Museum.  The plan worked along with the comfortable shoes I wore  because there were quilts and shopping in five locations!

I always appreciate learning something new when I attend an event like this and I did .

We were talking about quilt value after viewing the quilts and posed this question to the quilt appraisers in a nearby booth. What makes a quilt so valuable?  Here is what they told us, " the two most important value considerations are condition and workmanship. If a quilt is damaged upon repair this will detract from the value, other considerations include age, whether new or old, and popularity of design.. A red and white or blue and white quilt will increase in value  than a orange or green quilt. And a quilt made by Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, or Oprah Winfrey will add more value to the work than a quilt made by yours truly".


Here I am posing at the Wall of Fame

The Best of Show Quilt (Purple Ribbon) titled  "Harmony Within", is absolutely stunning up close. To see it go to my previous post "AQS Quilt Show Paducah Winners 2012" and it is the first quilt on the youtube video. At a distance the red background fabric looks like velvet. Up close you can see it is  hand-dyed cotton. The quilt was embellished with rhinestones, and a flat braid gold trim with pearls around the edge of the quilt to carry out the oriental theme. I understand  what the appraisers meant after viewing this quilt because the artistic concepts, machine quilting and construction were over the top. A well deserved honor.


Guild member Charmaine Erickson with her large wall quilt "Party Dishes-Ready to Party". The pattern called fiesta de televarde is by J. Michele Watts and based on mexican titles. There are 1,250 pieces in this quilt. Way to go Charmaine!

After gazing quilts and taking pictures I moved on to shopping. Here are my great finds.

Rubbing plates to use with my paintsticks, hand-dyed/hand-painted vintage kimono fabric, quilting cotton yardage, fat quarters, and handbag patterns.

When using the rubbing plates lightly spray the rubbing plate with all purpose adhesive and then place your fabric on top. This will keep the fabric from slipping around while rubbing with the paintsticks. A tip from one of my favorite vendors Laura Murray Designs. 

A nice walk to the Quilt Museum where I purchased beautiful quilt note cards

Here I am with Quilt Man and Bobbin in the parking lot at Hancocks of Paducah.

We left Handcocks of Paducah at 5:30 and headed home making a stop in Union City for dinner. On the trip back we were entertained with the movie "Courageous". This is a great movie for your church, ministry, or group that will leave you overflowing with joy and happiness.

At the show I met quilters from as far away as Australia.  Mary, Ruth, Sue, and Faye were my bus partners . And  Sandra, a long arm quilter from Dawsonville, GA and Joy Ochterbeck and friend from St. Louis. Joy 's quilt was on exhibit titled "Celtic Lullaby". I did not get a chance to see her quilt but she told me it was designed  in EQ. Speaking of Electric Quilt I was disappointed that they were not at the show this year. That was the one thing I wanted to  buy, the EQ7 upgrade. Anyway that left me with more money to shop. I met many new internet friends too.  Several folks I met wanted to know the best place to eat Bar-B-Cue in Memphis, or what was going on with Elvis?

In talking with quilters I found it interesting that there are many quilters  that don't give a hoot about blogging. Several commented that they would rather use the time to sew. Makes me re-think the amount of time I spend blogging .

I don't think anything could have been more fun Saturday than to be in the presence of quilters from all over  the world.

Thank you to all the folks at Germantown Baptist Church , Patchwork and Prayer Quilt group, and Bennie our bus driver.  Everyone on the bus received a bag with fabric, snacks, devotional materials, and registration ticket.  A lovely day in Paducah.

Peace, love, and art,

Angela