The Annual Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky is big business for Paducah. On average, 30,000 plus people--mainly women, flock to this town to be immersed in quilts and quilting. I am not a quilter, and more than likely never will be, but I do like to look at quilts, and my friend is a great quilter and this has been on her bucket list for years, so it was off to Paducah on Friday.
It is an easy trip but due to the crowds, our hotel was about 45 minutes away in Murray, KY. After checking in, we drove in to Paducah on Friday where they have a very quaint downtown arts district full of wonderful shops. I may not have bought any quilts, but I did come back with quite a bit of art. We had a wonderful time exploring and shopping on Friday. We drove to Grand Rivers to go to the 1880 Settlement and had dinner at the iconic Patti's restaurant--
think Cracker Barrel on steroids. It was packed with quilters. I had the best pork chop I think I have ever eaten.
On Saturday we were up and out early headed to the quilt show. There were hundreds of booths with quilting patterns, machine quilters, irons, fabric, and more.
I was blown away by the quality of the quilts--these are not your grandmothers quilts. While the old quilts are special, many of these are fabulous works of art-
-you would not even guess they were a quilt if you didn't know you were at a quilt show. My only disappointment in the show, was that they weren't selling quilts or quilt wall hangings. There were hundreds of beautiful quilts, but they were examples of what you could make yourself and the kits and fabric to make them. Well you know that is not going to happen with me! I did find some small treasures along the way. We went to several quilt shops and stores, a few restaurants and finally the American Quilt Museum
before heading back to our hotel.
It was an extremely full day and we saw so many wonderful quilts.
Today we had an easy drive home until right before Forrest City. About 3 miles ahead of us there was a wreck, and we were parked on the interstate for 1 1/2 hours before heading back home. Luckily it was a pretty day and we made it home with time to water the garden, even though rain is coming tomorrow they say. All the plants I have been buying needed a drink.