I’m going to try my best and describe the Quilt Show I went to in Paducah, Kentucky. It’s just a little over an hour from my house, so it’s not too long of a drive to get there. A friend of mine, her 2 younger daughters and their aunt went. My friend just bought a long arm quilting machine and is getting her business started, so she was looking for certain things to help her out… I was mostly along for the ride and to be inspired by what I would see. I have been thinking about how to best show all these works of art for you to enjoy them the most… Let me just give you a little introduction to the Quilt show. This Quilt Show is sponsored by a LOT of different companies, but it is the AQS (American Quilt Society’s) 101st Quilt Week Event. 37 of those Quilt Shows have been in Paducah, Kentucky, and I’ve been to quite a few of them over the last 30 or so years.
The quilts aren’t the only things to look at… this year there were 700 quilts on display and 300 vendor booths. I love going to the vendor booths, looking at fabrics, patterns, notions, trims, machines, cabinets, and on and on… it is my kind of shopping trip.
We heard someone talking that as soon as this quilt show is over, ladies go home and begin working on their entry for next year’s quilt contest.
There are all kinds of categories for winners…
Best of Show
Best Hand Workmanship
Best Machine Workmanship
Best Wall Quilt
Best Miniature Quilt
and many more categories…
I did my best to take pictures straight on, but it was impossible most of the time, as everyone else was trying to get pictures too. It was shoulder to shoulder people some of the time… You could get up right next to the quilts.. I mean inches away from them, but you weren’t allowed to touch them…
Well, here goes… in no particual order, and I’ll try to tell you a few tidbits as I show the pictures…
On a lot of the quilts… I tried to take a full shot of the quilt, then zero in on the stippling or the hand stitches or some details…
This next one has a back that is almost prettier than the front to me…and it should… because it won the JANOME AMERICA BEST OF SHOW!! It’s called “Sweet Madame Blue!”
This next quilt took the American Quilter Society’s BEST HAND WORKMANSHIP AWARD. Look at the beads sewn along the scalloped edges of this one… that pretty blue print is the BACK… and the quilt was hand quilted, not done with a machine…It’s called “Harmony.”
We think this was just a print that was “thread painted” with all those stitches…
Look at the border on this one…
I was astounded at this owl… look closely at the thread stitching on his face…from a distance it looked like his eyes were glass..
This was one of my favorites… it is just row after row of models, each with a purse, and french knots for their hair, ALL HAND STITCHED TO THE QUILT!
Here was another one that had lots of 3-D details… oven doors that opened, teddy bears on beds, etc… I beleive this one was called “Merry Christmas” and was awarded the ACCUQUILT BEST WALL QUILT AWARD. A woman from Japan made it!
Look at these tiny little yoyo’s added to the border… they were about the size of a dime…
This quilt was called “Memories of a Maiko” and won HANDI QUILTER BEST WALL STATIONARY MACHINE WORKMANSHIP AWARD. It was just incredible… look at the closeup pictures of her face… the micro-stippling was over the top… It was made by a woman in Texas.
There were LOTS of entries from Japanese women… I mean LOTS!
This just might have been my favorite quilt to look at… it was called, “Come on in, the water’s fine!” and it looked absolutely like a real tiger. His eyes looked like they were shining pieces of glass. Look closely at the fabric slivers and then the thread painting using the machine for his eyes and his nose. It was absolutely unbelievable.
When you were standing beside this one of the girl swimming in the water, it felt like the water was actually moving…
Here is another one of using the thread painting technique… isn’t he gorgeous… far away AND up close?
Here are some patterns for you…
Look at this man’s face using 2″ squares…
Here is a quilt with padding in the design… not sure if this is called Trapunto here or not…
Here are a couple of roosters… very colorful roosters, I might add!
If you got tired of looking at quilts or shopping, you could go outside to the food vendors and find EVERYTHING to eat!
There were drones flying above us taking videos of all the activities…
We had a beautiful day to visit… So glad we went Wednesday instead of Thursday, when we “had” planned to go…
As we walked back to our car, quite a few blocks away, there were more places to shop. Every little store or empty building that could be rented, was, and if you didn’t have a building or goods to sell, you opened up your yards for parking for a fee, or one guy we saw, had made a kind of rickshaw, and was carrying people around using his bicycle!
I could have done some serious damage to my credit card, but I held back and only bought a few things…
I always come home from the Quilt Show feeling motivated and excited about making something new… but first I’ll get Emmie’s dress finished…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wow!! Just….wow!!!!! Thank you for pictures of so many of the gorgeous quilts. The detail in some of them is just astounding. My favorites are the 8th one down (like a rose window, sort of, with yellow around the edges), the “Cherry Blossom” one (with all the figures hand stitched) and the Christmas one–of course I do love hand stitching, so am drawn to those–and the one with the two children and the dog–such joy they express!
I think you are right, that next-to-last quilt you show is definitely trapunto. Such a simple color combination, and yet so striking!!
I’m glad you found some goodies, too, even though you used considerably more restraint than I would have!! I especially like the black trims you bought. Can’t wait to see what you’ll do with them!
Oh my goodness!!!!!! What a gorgeous array of spectacular talent. I’ve gone through the pictures once but will look at them all again at least once. At least three times I thought I had chosen my favorite quilt but changed my mind so now I have to look again. You showed much more restraint than I would have with all those goodies to buy. I’ve seen the adverts for the Paducah quilt show but knew I would never get there so I am thrilled to see your pics. It’s a long way from Calgary Alberta where I live.
Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing! I am going to take my iPad down to the village and share with the girls at our local quilt shop. I have made up the Fat Square material you bought, I just loved it! Will try to take a picture today and send it along.
This is more than amazing! I am floored by all the work that went into these! Thank you so much for your great photos and especially the close ups showing the stitches. I wish I could share these photos with my dear friend who is a quilter!
Jeanne, I am blown away just looking briefly at the variety and quality of these beautiful creations! I had no idea quilting was so varied! I’m going to be looking all through the day off and on to “really” see what is there. This gives me a whole new definition of what quilting is. I cannot imagine the creativity of the women who design and sew them, many without formal training. And all the hours of sitting there and making those microscopic stitches! Amazing!
I especially love that darling Christmas quilt made by a Japanese woman, titled “Merry Christmas”! I love all the surprises on it, and of course this would be a wall hanging, instead of a bed covering. I don’t know why, but I gravitate to Christmas items before others!
What is a Bodobo Bag? Did you get instructions on how to make it, or a bag itself?
Thread painting is new to me, and it certainly must take time to do! I also noticed the darling prize ribbons attached to the winners quilts, with a flower instead of the usual blue ribbon!
Thank you for taking us along!
These quilts are amazing! The detail and designs are incredible. I can only imagine the amount of dedicated sewing with the construction of an idea and artistic talent involved.
Thank you for showing all these beautiful creations!
Galloping Girdy, my oh my, these artists produce such amazing work. Makes my crooked stitches on felt look really pathetic. So, how do they work the quilts? Are they mailed into the show and then displayed? or do the artists have to bring them in? And how are they returned every so carefully to the owners? This has to be the top quilt show in the nation. Thank you Jeanne for sharing. 🙂
I had to make an addition to my RRFF kids this morning. A cute new boy, Russell, will be joining the others here soon. Ed at Happily.com has him available.
Much cooler this morning after our extreme heat of yesterday. Might have to get back to weeding as it has been way too hot to even attempt it lately. 🙂
Joy I am pretty sure that the quilts will be juried. You send in a photo of your finished quilt and it is an honour if your quilt is picked for display. Our guild has had a couple of members who have had quilts shown at the Houston quilt show which is an amazing honour believe me. If your quilt is chosen you then send in the quilt itself. Insurance is vital, quilts have been known to be stolen!!! Imagine trying to put a value on some of those!
Thanks Anne. Never thought of entering photos. Good idea though to weed them out. So sad to think that quilts would be stolen or lost on their way to a show. Had not heard of the Houston quilt show. I’ll have to look it up.
And have you been doing any quilting lately? Any word on you place in line for surgery? Thinking of you.
Holy moly…I don’t have the words to express how wonderful the quilts are. Thank you so much for taking the time to photograph these fantastic pieces of art. It makes me want to run and pull out the pieces I have partially done and finish them….but on the other hand knowing what I have done is so pathetic compared to theirs…I guess I need to be satisfied because mine will never in a million years look anything like theirs🤭
I do gravitate to the traditional quilts over the portrait ones…but all of them are amazing.
Glad you got to spend a day there…I had no idea it was do spread out and huge…it would take several days to look at everything….and then wanting to buy some🤩 My quilting friends will love this.
I am amazed at all of these quilts!!!
I have never attempted something like these. Well, I tried once, but it looked very primitive compared to these. I can just imagine hundreds of people walking around with their mouths open, saying “Ahh, oooh, how beautiful!
I have wanted to attend this quilt show for years. This may be the closest I’ll get. Thanks for showing this.
Diana Jenness
Thank you for sharing these magnificent quilts! This show has to be quilting at its finest. I loved the tiger, the duck, and the yellow flower among the cacti quilts. Your close-up photos make a fellow sewer truly appreciate the intricate details and stitching that went into these creations. I have made an Irish Chain baby quilt and several table runners and know how much time it takes to sew smaller quilted items….can only imagine the patience and dedication it must take to complete those larger quilts displayed at the Quilt show.
Jeanne, thanks so much for taking the time to not only photograph all those beautiful quilts but to share them with us. The creativity is astounding. I had no idea there were so many techniques in quilting. The quilt that you mentioned the beautiful back on looks like it could be reversible. It’s beautiful either way. I get something once a year in my e-mail to pick a favorite quilt. There are several days to do this picking one a day. But there are so many I don’t do it every day, but it is fun seeing all the different ideas for quilts. Being partial to lighthouses, I love the quilt with the lighthouse scene.
I totally admire your restraint in not purchasing more than you did. Couldn’t have done that. I visited an Etsy shop yesterday that I’ve never shopped at before. I was looking for the laceup applique like you used on Emmie’s dress. I found a couple. They were pink and black but no white. By the time I stopped shopping I had racked up a good size total of trims, foldover elastics, fabric, etc. I actually ended up putting a few things in “save for later” although they may not be there when I return. Imagine what I could have done if I had been shopping in person.
Jeanne, thank you so much for sharing so many pictures of these quilts. They are works of art! Although I do not quilt, I have been around quilters all my life, even owning some 100 years old from family. So I know the skill, patience, and time that goes into this art, and thoroughly enjoyed the pictures.
So very impressive! Thank you for showing all of them to us. Sweet Madame Blue is beautiful. i am beyond impressed by Harmony because of the fact it is hand- quilted. The one with the rose border is lovely. The Merry Christmas one is so sweet with the 3D designs. I also really like the ones of scenes with lighthouses and houses. The Dresden Plate one caught my eye because I have that pattern made by my grandmother.
My grandmother’s quilts have reached the 100-year mark as well. It never ceases to amaze me that after a hard day in the fields picking cotton on her family’s cotton farm that she would then quilt or crochet. Her mother had leg ulcers and had to sit mostly after the birth of the last child and at 12 my grandmother was responsible for her five younger siblings, baking and cooking for her family and the hired hands, and all the financial workings of the farm.
Just remembered it is Arbor Day. I recall getting a little tree to plant in school.
Here’s a sweet poem I found many years later.
Dear little tree that we plant today,
What will you be when we’re old and gray?
“The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse,
For robin and wren an apartment house,
The dressing room of the butterfly’s ball,
The locust’s and katydid’s concert hall,
The schoolboy’s ladder in pleasant June,
The schoolgirl’s tent in the July noon,
And my leaves shall whisper them merrily,
A tale of the children who planted me.
~ Anonymous
What a beautiful poem. Thanks, Laura.
Jeanne thank you so much for sharing your photos. I would love, love, love to be able to go to Paducah or Houston, for the shows. Maybe one day. If you have no objection I will share the blog with our guild, they will love seeing the photos. These quilts are so amazing, You mentioned that a lot were from Japan, yes the Japanese are amazing with their attention to detail. You are so lucky to live so close I would have been there every year!
I have been feeling pretty depressed lately. The pain from my hip has been getting worse, I have been waiting over 6 months for a replacement and someone else told me the waiting list was now 18 months. Although I joked about it saying I would be dead before I got it fixed it wasn’t all humour. Prior to the problem I kept myself healthy, hardly ever went to the doctor, took no medication except paracetamol, walked regularly. Since the pain started I have been on several different medications most have given side effects causing more problems. One medication has affected my bowels so have to go in for a colonograph. Unfortunately the medication I am on now on isn’t as effective so have had a lot of pain. I also have tablets for high blood pressure that I have never had before it has always been on the low to normal side. I was getting more and more depressed. At last, on Thursday, I got a letter with an appointment on the 10th May for pre admission assessment. Yay. Not sure how long before I get my op but at least there is movement in the right direction. I’ll keep you posted
Well, hurray for the appointment! I’ll bet it won’t be too much longer. The drug side effects seem to be worse than for what the drugs were intended in many cases. At least that is what I’ve found. So sorry for the pain. Do you take your blood pressure at home? Mine always goes up at the doctor’s office. Goes right back down at home. Go figure. Anyway, hopefully after the surgery you can ditch some of the drugs (with doctors okay) and get back to normal.
White coat syndrome. I have it too. A few years ago when I had my rollover accident they took my blood pressure in the ambulance. It was fine. But get me in a doctor’s office and that changes. I never leave his office that he doesn’t tell me that if my blood pressure continues like that to come back and see him. Once I leave I’m good to go.
Anne, it’s so good to hear from you. I am so sorry to hear about your health issues and I’ll be praying that they will be taken care of soon. Your blood pressure problem could be a result of your pain. My husband had the same problem before his knee surgeries. Hopefully that will be the case and you can return to normal after surgery.
WOW! Those quilts are amazing!!!