Traveling Quilter

Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show

Minnesota Quilters Annual Quilt Show

Quilts exhibits at Minnesota Quilt Show

My sister Donna and I attended the 2011 Quilt Show of the Minnesota Quilters Association, held in St. Paul, Minnesota June 16 – 18th.   In 2009 I caught the show in Duluth.

One of my favorites was "Waterfall Symphony" by Elizabeth Lanzatella, Minneapolis, MN

We attended the first day of the show and I was surprised for a Thursday how many people were there. It was busy but Kudos for the quilt show organizers because we had no trouble seeing the quilt exhibits nor vendor booths because the layout of exhibits and vendors was well-planned to handle crowds of people. I particularly liked how the quilts were arranged; quilts of similar design themes were grouped together. I also found a wide variety of quilting styles and patterns plus a decent representation of quilts from Minnesota quilters. I suppose I like that because being from neighboring Wisconsin we share similar quilting traditions and a love for northwoods themes.

For a regional show I was surprised at the number of vendors; some good quality ones too. Like the quilt exhibits, the vendor booths were also well organized – not too cramped and easy to move from one vendor area to another even though the show had a nice crowd.

The show was held at the St. Paul Convention Center which was easy to find and had adequate and convenient parking. Probably my only complaint would be the $10 parking fee, a bit steep, but as I said the location was easy to find and parking was convenient so I guess you have to pay for those benefits! By the way if you are ever in Minneapolis-St. Paul you ought to go see Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Park, one of Minneapolis’ oldest and most popular parks. In addition to its natural beauty the falls is celebrated in Longfellow’s famous poem “The Song of Hiawatha.”

Jo and Donna at Minnehaha Falls in Minnehaha Park

I’ll be posting a few more pictures of quilts and scenes from the 2011 show on our regular pages of QuiltingPathways sometime in the next month or so.

Unless something comes up in the meantime the next show I’ll be attending will be Wisconsin’s Quilt Expo, held in Madison from Sept. 8th – 10th.

PS. Quilting Guilds and quilt show organizers. Let me know about your upcoming event and I can post it on our Quilt Show Calendar. We’d also appreciate a link to QuiltingPathways.com to help spread the word on quilt shows, including yours, quilting events, and quilt shops along scenic byways. Contact me at quiltingpathways@gmail.com

Keep on Quiltin’

Jo

Eleanor Burns Tent Show at the 2011 AQS Paducah Quilt Show.

Hello Paducah Quilt Show Fans,

Ross has just finished processing a video of the 2011 version of Eleanor Burns’ popular tent show performance held during the big Paducah Quilt Show & Contest in Paducah Kentucky. If you were there, here’s a little 5 minute snippet of the show to bring back the memories. If you’ve never seen her show, it will give you a little taste of what it is like. BTW the day we were there she mentioned that over in the fabric sale tent, the biggest ticket sale of the day was over $11,000. Not all fabric, I guess there was a machine in that purchase too, but I know a ton of fabric is sold each year at her tent sale.

Here’s that link to the Eleanor Burns Tent Show Video

Happy Quilting – Jo

Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Grand River Community Center, inside the Quilt Show, outside were craft vendors

Each April, coinciding with the big AQS quilting show and convention in Paducah, Grand Rivers also hosts its own show at its Community Center. Grand Rivers is a quaint little village that sits between Kentucky and Barkley lakes, at the north end of the National Park/Recreation Area appropriately named Land Between the Lakes. As it is only about 20 miles west of Paducah, its area motels and B&Bs host many quilters attending the Paducah Show. So with all the quilters in town it is a good time to host its own quilt show and spring festival. When we go to the Paducah show we stay in the nearby Canal Park RV park so we are regular spring-time visitors to Grand Rivers.

Here’s a few pictures of quilts I liked at the Grand Rivers Show. One I particularly liked was made from a 100 pound antique flour or feed sack.

Amish Quilt by Ella Bontrager

Detail on Amish Quilt by Ella Bontrager

Here’s another one I liked, made by Joyce Puffenbarger of Symsonia, Kentucky.

Quilt by Joyce Puffenbarger

Mr. Bill's Restaurant, Grand Rivers, KY

Mr. Bill's Restaurant, Patti's 1880s Settlement

The Community Center is in the heart of town. Nearby across the street is the Badgett Playhouse which usually schedules a production to run during the Quilt Show and Festival. Across the street in another direction is Patti’s 1880′s Settlement (see our web page on Patti’s and Grand Rivers here), a very popular regional attraction featuring a restored log cabin village with shops, gardens, ponds, streams, walking paths, a little country church, a mill pond waterwheel, and two fantastic restaurants. Last month we posted a blog on our dinner we had at Patti’s Restaurant. So this trip we decided to try brother Bill’s restaurant, appropriately named Mr. Bill’s Restaurant. We found the menu similar to Patti’s and the wait staff were similarly costumed in 1880s attire. Basically the only difference in the two establishments is the interior design motif. While Patti’s is filled with antique furniture from the era and dining is in several smaller more intimate rooms. Bill raised roses so his restaurant is filled with roses and a floral motif with liberal sprinkling of LCD lights. The dining rooms are larger and more open. But that ends the difference because like Patti’s we found the service and the food outstanding.

April 28, 2011 Paducah AQS Quilt Show

Quilters getting off the bus at the Pavilion (Bubble Dome)

Lunch time at the Farmers Market Plaza - Good Food, decent prices and a beautiful day

Scuplture outside the National Quilt Museum, across the street from the Farmers Market

All over town quilters were eating ice cream cones from the Ice Cream Factory

Finally sunshine arrived on Thursday in Paducah, after 5 days of rain and severe weather alerts. Yesterday between showers I had a chance to visit the Pavilion (Bubble Dome) where many of the quilts were exhibited. I also stopped in the Baptist Church on Broadway to see all the wall quilts. And finally at the end of the day I caught Eleanor Burn’s Tent Show – this year’s theme was “Strips to Stars.”

I had previously reported the location changes due to the rising Ohio River endangering the Convention Center which has traditionally been the primary host facility for the AQS Quilt Show & Contest. Several additional sites had to be employed, some quite distant from downtown Paducah, to make up for the loss of space at the Convention Center. The Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Bureau did an excellent job adding buses and new routes to provide free transportation to all show locations.  While I spent more time on buses traveling around I discovered there were some benefits to the inconvenience of having the show spread out over so many different, and somewhat distant, locations. Previously most of the quilt exhibits were in the Convention Center. This year no single location could handle all of them, so they were spread out among the Pavilion, the  Baptist Church, and the Kentucky Oaks Mall facility. The result. The exhibits were less crowded; I could make my way through them easier. I also found the lighting at these new/temporary locations was just as good as the Convention Center if not a bit better- so light for viewing of the quilts was about the same.  Another benefit of spreading out all the quilt show attendees was at lunch time. Didn’t have to wait in line long to get served and was easily able to find a seat at a picnic table.

Quilt By Eileen Daniels, Broadhead, Wisconsin

Next year when the show returns to the Conference Center, I’d like to see them continue to display quilts in the Pavilion and put more of the quilting vendors in the Conference  Center. (In 2010 the Pavilion (Bubble Dome) was mainly used for vendors. Below are a few photos from the exhibits. AQS wants permission from both the organization and the quilter before I publish any photos on QuiltingPathways.com so that will have to wait for later. But I can show you one here from my friend Eileen Daniels (see her website here) who has already given me permission. By the way, in the past Wisconsin has been well represented at the annual show (our state is among the leaders of all US states in the number of quilt shops so we must have lots of quilters too) but this year it seemed we had fewer than usual entries.

In the Pavilion (Bubble Dome)

In the old Office Depot building at Kentucky Oaks Mall

Did you go to the show? If so let us know how you liked it in the comments section below the pictures.

Happy Quilting,

Jo – quiltingpathways@gmail.com

Update Paducah Quilt Show – April 26, 2011

The Ohio River is rising - view from the upper deck of the Carson Center, Paducah, KY

Installing one of the 47 gates along the Paducah Flood Wall

Jo and I arrived yesterday, Monday, in Paducah so she could be one of the first in line at Eleanor Burn’s Fabric Fair sale in Carson Park. When we arrived we found workers were busy trying to re-install the Big Top show tent that had recently collapsed from heavy rains. With luck they should have it ready for the show opening on Weds. Fortunately the smaller Fabric Fair tent weathered the storm OK so Jo was able to snap up some good deals.

When we arrived in downtown Paducah we found city workers with cranes working on the Flood Wall. As the pictures here show Paducah is closing the gates on its Flood Wall, the first time all 47 gates have been closed since the 1950′s. The Ohio River is at flood stage and going higher. But as the second picture shows on Monday, April 25th the river is still a few feet below even the base of the flood wall. It is hard to imagine that during the next few days the river would rise several feet to lap at the base of the Flood Wall. My guess is that won’t happen until after the Quilt Show is over.

But Paducah is getting out ahead of potential problems by sealing up the entire wall. We had more rain last night and expect more tonight, so the advance planning is paying off. However since the Expo and Convention Center is on the river side of the flood wall, Mother Nature has caused some changes to the 2011 Paducah Quilt Show but it looks like the city of Paducah and AQS has everything well organized.

There’s been a musical chairs change to the location of several events and activities. Because the Expo Center is in the flood plain, all original activities scheduled for there have been moved to the Dome (Pavilion). Activities scheduled for the Dome-Pavilion have been moved to locations in the Kentucky Oaks Mall area, which historically has also hosted some Quilt Show vendors. The Food Court is being moved to the Farmers Market Pavilion across from the National Quilt Museum. Events scheduled for the Museum and at the Carson Center remain the same. Workshops and some exhibits will be moved to the First Baptist Church on Broadway. As in the past free shuttles will be running between all quilt show locations.

The weather forecast remains for the rain to stop on Weds and sunny weather show up. The only change Jo is making for her quilt show attendance is for sure she is buying the multi-day ticket. With the show being distributed among more locations she figures she’ll need more time to see what I want.

The rain has also affected my plans. When it finally does stop raining I don’t know if I’ll be able to find a golf course that isn’t flooded. I had hoped to golf at the Kentucky Dam course, Paxton in Paducah, Drake Creek in Ledbetter, and Miller Memorial near Murray. May have to settle for just hitting some balls at the range.

Jo will report later on the show and I’ll report on golfing (or lack thereof !)

–Ross roscoetrails@gmail.com

Snow in Mount Horeb, WI April 20th

“Arvy” our little Rialta motorhome is just about all packed and ready to travel to Paducah for the big AQS Quilt Show and Convention. We’ll all be happy to be heading south because the weather here in southern Wisconsin has been pretty nasty. Just a few days ago we had snow and low temps around 20 degrees (see picture).  The weather forecast in Paducah during the show is for temps in the 70′s but also scattered thundershowers. Opening day Weds, April 27th there’s a 40% chance of showers and presently a forecast of a high of 68 degrees. So bring a rain coat or umbrella just in case you get caught in a shower. Thursday will be mostly sunny followed by Friday and Saturday partly cloudy.  So overall some nice weather. The show is a little later in the month this year so the Dogwood’s might be past their blooming.

The “Dome” Arena will again host a portion of the show. The old Executive Inn has been torn down and the Convention Center expanded somewhat, but until a replacement for the Executive Inn is built the Quilt Show will need to use the Arena. See pictures from last year’s Quilt Show . I am planning to attend Eleanor Burn’s Fabric Fair at Carson Park bright and early Monday morning to catch some of her great deals on fabrics. If you are going to the Fabric Fair, you can get a coupon here at her website. Eleanor’s tent show is on Wednesday 27th. This year’s theme is Strips to Stars. Always a fun show (you can some pics from an earlier Eleanor Show here). There’s lots of other events going on during the week the show is in town. Go to the Visitors Bureau Calendar and see the complete list.

We’ll report later either from the show or later.

See ya’

Jo – quiltingpathways@gmail.com