What a trip!

How quickly this week went!  I can't believe that we are back from Paducah already.  We had a great time and got to see a lot --- of water!!  The rivers and streams are full to overflowing in so many places.  We went over the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and White rivers and countless streams all out of their banks.  The worst part of this was that they had to close the flood gates in Paducah which meant relocating several venues of the show.

On Sunday evening, the show organizers were advised that the flood gates would be closed and, since the convention center is outside the flood gates, it would have to be evacuated.  Many, many people worked liked dogs to accomplish this task.  Here is a picture of the river after the flood gates were closed:

We really did a lot on this trip.  We went to Threads of Time in Danville, IL, and Lori's Pins and Needles in Paris, IL, on the way down.  We also stopped at Rend Lake Artisans Center (see previous post).  Once we arrived in Paducah we went to Eleanor Burns' tent in Carson Park, Hancock's (where the back room fabric was $6/yard!) and didn't buy much.  We also went to visit Caryl Bryer Fallert's studio.  We were very fortunate to be able to go on a tour of her studio and home.  She is a most gracious hostess.  Here are a few pictures:

The top two pictures are in her living room.  The  next picture is her fabric storage room - no outside light and very organized!!  The last picture is her sewing area in her studio.   She was very fortunate to be able to buy the two  parcels of land for $1 and then had to build in keeping with the historical theme of the area.  She was able to design the inside exactly as she wanted it.  She has several guest rooms which allow workshop participants to stay on site.  She rents out the rooms during the quilt show but said not to even bother calling - one of the guests would have to die in order for there to be a space.  :)

We enjoyed looking at all the quilts and visiting all the vendor booths at the Kentucky Oaks Mall, the old Circuit City and Office Depot stores and the church where small wall quilts were displayed and classes were held.  


I was a really good girl and didn't buy much as you can see from this picture:

 Of course, I did go to Quilt Festival in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and wasn't quite as good there!

We left yesterday afternoon with the plan to stop as several shops along the way.  Unfortunately, the first two that we wanted to see were closed (we did call first so didn't waste too much time) but by the time we got to Evansville the traffic was pretty bad and the road to Boonville was closed so we never made it to Village Mercantile or The Stitching Post in Washington.  We'll just save those for another trip.

Rend Lake Artisans Center

Yesterday on our way to Paducah,  my friend Stephanie and I stopped at the Rend Lake Artisans Center.  I had read about it last year in one of Mickey DePre's postings.  We stopped on our way home last year but got there just as they were closing (5:00 p.m.) and only had a few minutes to quickly run through.  This year we were able to take our time.

It is a great place that features items produced by Illinois artisans.  It has everything from metal sculpture, quilted items, pottery, glassworks, wooden pieces and much more.  I think it is wonderful that the state has chosen to honor their artisans this way.

If you are traveling on I57 in Illinois I heartily recommend a stop.  Unfortunately no pictures are allowed as I would love to show you some of the items.

In addition to the shop, they had an amazing display of Civil War quilts made by women in Illinois.  It was just amazing to see all these beautiful quilts and read the stories about the families related to them.  Again, no pictures but take my word, it is definitely worth a look.

Guild Meeting

This week Kaye England spoke to our guild.  She is a hoot.  Her story of reclaiming her llamas after they escaped and were picked up by animal control was hysterical.  If you have the opportunity attend one of her talks, don't miss it.  She had everyone rolling on the floor laughing!

We had a good chance to chat while the rest of the meeting was going on.  She readily agreed to give me a quilt for the Small Quilt Auction at our guild quilt show in October.  I really appreciate her generosity as well as that of the other nationally-known quilters who have agreed to help us make the auction a success.

First Quarter Update

I had a very productive first quarter and thought I would share some pictures with you:

I knitted the scarf for one of my beemates.  I am pleased with the end result but it took longer than I expected.  Right now I am working on a pair of socks for my daughter-in-law and should be able to post a picture in the next day or two - I just have to finish the second toe.

The Girl Scout quilt was a lot of fun to make.  It was a quick assembly and Jen (my daughter) did a great job on the quilting and finished it very quickly.  The quilt along with one of the pillows will be prizes at our Service Unit's Mother/Daughter Bingo next Friday.

The pastel stripe quilt is for a longtime friend.  She has some serious health issues and lost her husband last year so I hope that it will bring her comfort.  I quilted this quilt myself - it was my first time to quilt such a large piece and I am not sure if I would quilt one this large again.  This quilt is the first quarter UFO for my bee challenge and I got it finished in the nick of time.

The snowman quilt is the third quilt I have made using this pattern.  It was quilted by Kathy Yull and she really took her time choosing patterns.  I will post closeups another day.

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed working on these projects.