Paducah, or Quilt City as it has been labelled, stands on the banks of the Ohio. It was badly affected by torrential rain and thunderstorms so that all the flood barriers were raised to protect the town from the rapidly rising river.
Flood gates, Paducah
The Ohio in flood
By the end of the week the water had reached the floodgates, evidenced by seepage at the base of the gates. This caused great upheaval for the organisers because the convention centre that usually houses the quilt show was built between the river and the levees. At the eleventh hour, it was decided to move the venue to a huge Baptist church that was almost the size of a university campus building. Vendors were re-sited in empty shops and quilts were hung in alternative galleries. How the organisers coped I know not, but everyone was anxious that it was going to work and it did! This year will be the one that everyone remembers and says ‘I was there!’
My week in Paducah was exciting and exhausting. Being the only international teacher and a new author for AQS, I was happily worked to the bone. I taught 4 workshops, gave a lecture, did both All-star reviews, took part in an author’s roundtable and did a video promotion for my book. This left me no time to visit the vendors or see downtown Paducah and allowed me only to walk past, rather than study, the exhibited quilts. I really enjoyed the experience and made many new quilting friends.
And then it was holiday time as I met my husband and we flew to Miami and motored down the Florida Keys to Key West.
Relaxing! South Beach, Miami
Pampered pooches
Pelican
Fish
We saw Ernest Hemmingway’s pure line of 6-toed cats and the sponge man.
6-toed cat
Spongeman
A colourful beacon marks the most Southerly point of the USA and a busker’s dog is trained to take your money!
Beacon
Money collector
We actually found the No Name Pub where the walls are plastered with defaced dollar bills and we added our own.
No Name pub
Roger piloted a Waco bi-plane and I swam with Tina the dolphin
WACO and pilot Tina
We took an airboat ride and saw loads of gators, on land and in the water.
And we sipped sunset cocktails on Sunset Pier and, guess what, saw the sunset!!
I started my blog purely as a place to talk and share quilting matters so forgive me for showing my holiday pics. You are actually forbidden to show quilts from Paducah without the express permission of the makers, so I can’t share those with you. Rest assured that next week I will be back to as normal as I get!
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