Paducah!

The Ohio was rising and the flood gates were closed, but Quilt Week in Paducah, Kentucky went on as planned!  The AQS Show organizers are to be commended for all their efforts this year to keep the annual Quilt Show going.  They had to drop personal and family plans on Easter Sunday to scramble for new venues to replace the Expo Center which they could suddenly not use as it's located outside the now closed flood gates!  This year was This quilter's first trek to the Paducah Show, and I for one am very grateful for their efforts.  It was a little more spread out than usual with some of the show quilts and vendors located in a large bubble pavilion, some moved to empty retail facilities, and the classes and some quilts moved to a large Baptist Church campus.  The shuttle bus operators were a little flustered but did their best, most people kept good spirits about it all, and we explored the entire town. 

From the time my Mom picked me up at the airport in Louisville, where I visited with her and family in the surrounding area for a few days, until we drove into Paducah, it rained and sometimes stormed (I even woke to tornado sirens in Shelbyville where my Mom lives...a new experience for this Maryland girl.  Thankfully none materialized close to us, but they were devastating in some areas as I'm sure you know).   But the sun came out for a few days for the Quilt Show, and here are some sights we enjoyed as we walked the town.  

The flood wall murals are really cool.

 Quilts can be spotted just about anywhere :)

 Fabric sales are tucked in all over!

 A little jazz, some artists, and a dancing "statue" in a town square added to the festivities.

Quaint streets with great restaurants.  We had a wonderful lunch at Max's on this cute little street (They were somewhere near the Kentucky Ave quilt vendors ~ sorry I'm not more exact, we were just meandering and enjoying the day when we happened upon them). 

 Quilters could be spotted all over town, and we were very welcomed!

And there were lots of cool antique shops and cute little things could be spotted everywhere :) 

This was my Mom's first ever visit to any quilt show, and my first visit to the Paducah Show and I think we were a little bit overwhelmed...it's kind of like Disney World for quilters :)  But I think we did ok ~ as a matter of fact, I have a box shipping home because I was flying and limited to one suitcase.
...And I've already booked our room for next year's show,  hopefully the start of a great annual tradition for my Mom and me :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn