Paducah at the River's Edge

The 27th Annual AQS Quilt Show & Contest at Paducah, KY, was held this week.  Cindy Claycamp, owner of Quilting Memories, invited me to join her and other friends during this celebration of quilts.  My schedule was such that I could only go for a few days but some is better than none.

I drove down Sunday after playing handbells at our Easter service.  The weather was iffy in Columbus but it was downright nasty as I drove across the Wendell Ford Parkway in Kentucky.  At one point, there was even light hail.  No car damage, thank goodness, but it was nasty driving.  I arrived in Paducah about 6 p.m., just as Cindy and her friend Carol were unloading the last of Cindy's tubs of quilts.  It's all in the timing!!


Cindy taking a stretch break to loosen up the muscles after carting in all sorts of tubs and equipment.

Cindy rents a building in downtown Paducah for the week of the show and Indiana vendors invade the building.  There were 7 vendors in one building and 4 in another.  A few of them had come down Saturday afternoon (Pohlar Fabrics, The Quilt Shoppe and In Stitches) and had their booths completely in order by the time Cindy was done unloading her van.  Cindy, Carol and I moved tables, set up framing on which to hang quilts, and unloaded tubs.  We worked hard and got Cindy's booth pretty well set up by early evening.
 In the meantime, another Indiana vendor showed up.  Nancy Mason, owner of Rivers Edge Fabric Company, arrived as we were close to finishing.  With true Hoosier Hospitality in the Bluegrass state, Kenny Pohlar helped Nancy unload her trailer and set up some framing for her booth.  As Cindy and Carol were exhausted (remember, they unloaded the tubs from Cindy's van), they headed for the condo to rest and recuperate.  I helped Nancy unload tubs, move tables, set up pegboards and we at least got the structure of her booth in place with about half of the merchandise out before we joined the others at the condo.


Cindy's display of red and white antique quilts was stunning and generated quite a bit of interest.  My favorite is smack dab in the middle of this display - solid red circles with rays coming out of them.  The workmanship on this quilt (actually on all of the quilts) was exquisite.

Monday came and we were up and at it early to put the finishing touches on the booths.  We finished setting up Nancy's booth and Cindy put the finishing touches on her booth.  Just Jennifer (Jennie Sharpe) showed up Monday morning to set up her booth.  An honorary Hoosier, she has gorgeous jackets based on sweatshirts.

But the real excitement was happening outside.  It had been raining almost non-stop for the past week and the rivers were starting to rise.  The downtown area is only 2 blocks from the Four Rivers Pavillion.  With four rivers converging in Paducah, they had built a flood wall that was at least 20 feet high several years ago.  Normally, there are gaps in the wall so visitors can stroll along the banks of the Ohio River.  But the city engineers were installing the flood gates - just a half block from our location!  It was an interesting process to watch and somewhat nerve racking to be unloading quilts and materials while the waters rise.  Nancy's shop name (Rivers Edge) took on new meaning! 

This opening in the flood wall is just a half block from our storefront.  You can see the steel beams they've installed to hold the corrugated sheets that complete the flood wall.

The hearty Indiana vendors opened their mini-mall at noon on Monday as scheduled.  Quilters did float in and out of the store between downpours.  Although slightly damp, they were in good spirits and happy to be in Paducah.  Nancy let me help her in her booth and I had a blast.  She did demos of the Strip Tubing ruler and I'd run the register.  Or I'd do the demos and she'd talk with someone about the needlework kits she had on display.  It was loads of fun and I learned quite a bit about embroidery.

Rose and Linda working on projects while waiting for customers to brave the intermittent storms.

We later learned that the river was expected to crest the week following the quilt show and that all 49 of the flood gates had been installed - first time ever! There were pressure gauges on one of the flood gates in the downtown area but the water hadn't reached the flood wall by the time I left town.

I was able to take this picture before they closed up a door in the wall.  Just to the right of the lampost in the center is a sign that's just barely out of the water.  There is a lovely walk along the river - or at this point, under the river!

Anyway, the show moved out of the convention center  as it was on the wrong side of the flood wall.  Go figure!  The town rallied and the quilt show and vendors were all housed in alternative locations - the show must go on.  But so did the rain.  It rained through Wednesday evening but cleared up for a beautiful Thursday and Friday.  Visitors arrived from all over and I had wonderful conversations with quilters from across the United States as well as several from the UK and Australia. 

As I watched the local news Wednesday morning, I learned that Pat Holly's quilt, Paisley Peacock, won Best of Show.  I'm sure Pat was thrilled.  So was I since I'd seen Pat work on that quilt during the 2009 Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.  Pat does beautiful machine applique on some of the tiniest pieces of fabric.

Finally, it was time to head home.  I waited for a break in the storms and left Paducah while it was just sprinkling.  I no sooner got out of town than it started raining.  Then it rained hard.  And harder.  And harder still!  No fun driving in the rain.  But there wasn't alot of traffic and it was plenty light out so it wasn't too bad.  It didn't stop raining until I hit the Seymour exit, just a half hour from home.  It was great to pull into the garage.  But I already missed being with my quilting friends.  Oh, well, there's always next year!

Cheers!
Margaret