Paducah is a Winner for Quilters

The adventure for visitors from around the world and the hard work of the all those involved in putting on the AQS Quilt Show & Contest is drawing to a close. The enthusiasm, inspiration, hilarity, and sheer exhaustion of Quilt Week in Paducah, KY, however, is sure to linger long after the loose threads are swept up and the last crate of fabric is stowed.

True confession. I have lived in Quilt City USA® since June of 1985, two months after the Schroader’s very first show. This year, 2008, was my very first time to actually participate by going to the Expo.

What was I thinking? That I might absorb enough of the atmosphere just by experiencing the traffic created by daily scores of tour buses and the crowded restaurants full of hungry quilters? Could I really understand the attraction of all the thousands of women, and dozens of men, that show up by only observing their promenades on the city sidewalks downtown for an evening stroll?

I love what the quilt show does for Paducah, always have and always will. Our city takes on a whole new atmosphere with the opportunity to really share our true southern hospitality. Even the dogwood and azalea blossoms shout out, “We’re glad you’re here!” But for me, now, it is so much more real.

So many new flickr, facebook, and blog friends met; such exciting visuals of color, texture, and craft to savor; all true inspirations and opportunities I now understand are just waiting out there for me to explore a bit further.

Special thanks to Mary Hammond, Executive Director at the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau. You moved me forward. And thank you quilters! You brought me great JOY!