We knew we had arrived last Sunday night when we drove over the Ohio River on the “flying geese” bridges.

The weather, the trees, and the singing birds were all beautiful.

The next morning Lori and I decided to take our teaching stuff over to the teacher’s room at the convention center for safe keeping until our classes began. The problem was ~ all 23 gates were in the flood wall because the water had been high. It’s been over 14 years since the show had to be moved at the last minute because the flood gates were put up (click here to read that post). You see ~ the quilt show is held at the Bill and Meredith Schroeder Convention Center which is on the wrong side of the flood wall!!!

The river was low enough at this point to have the show there, so we had to drive all the way around to the high end of the wall to get in. It would have been awful if all the traffic to the show had to get in this way. But AQS was working on it. So we unloaded our stuff and got it moved in.


Jeanette, Lori and I returned a few hours later to start hanging the quilts and pinning the miniatures into their cases. It was great fun as always, and it was especially delightful this year because Lori had three quilts in the show! Congrats dear friend.

We began by pinning the miniature quilts into their cases.

Then we finished helping to hang the small wall quilts. It was so exciting to see these wonderful works of art up close.
The next day, the day before the show opened, the city removed the four flood gates directly around the convention center. Hooray!

I was able to walk down by the river and, although it was high (just look at the trees “standing” in the water), the water was low enough to allow for these gates to be removed. What a blessing.

This also was the day that the newest mural to be painted on the inside of the flood wall was revealed. The mural project began in 2017 with Carol Bryer Fallert Gentry’s quilt “Corona II: Solar Eclipse” being the first one painted on the wall. The flag quilt on the far left, made by Melinda Bula was added a few years ago, and this year “The Cheyenne Has Been Closed” by Ian Berry was revealed.

Here it is close up. Ian’s work is all done using recycled denim clothing and glue – it’s not actually stitched (and of course this is a painted rendition of his work).


It is amazing! I met Ian in 2018 when AQS put up an exhibit of his work at the Spring show. Please click here to visit his site. I promise you’ll be blown away.

After visiting the quilts and vendors at Carson Park, Lori and I introduced Jeanette to Flamingo Row. We had a yummy lunch. Quiltina and her friend Flat Frances (Lori’s scrappy companion) joined in on the fun.

The following day the show began. I have quite a few quilts I’d like to share with you from the show, but there isn’t room enough in this week’s post. So I’d like to share some insights into the exhibits at the National Quilt Museum this week, and fill next week’s post with my favorite show quilts.
The main gallery in the museum was filled with many prize winning quilts from previous years. It is always a wonderful trip down memory lane for me, since I’ve seen the winning quilts in Paducah every year for the past 34 years. The one that I loved revisiting this year was Escapade by Libby Lehman. It won a first place ribbon here in 1993, and she was the quilter who really introduced the quilt world to thread painting. WOW!

My favorite miniature of the ones on display was Dancing at Netherfield by Judy Day. I believe the hexagons are 1/2″, and many of them ~ plus some of the ladies dresses in the border ~ are fussy cut. Beautiful!

The side galleries featured the work of two amazing quilt artists. In one was a very impressive exhibit of a group of quilts by Victoria Findley Wolfe. The quilts were huge and visually stunning.

I actually met Victoria when I taught for the Empire Quilters in New York City way back in 2013. My friend Maggi Gordon had moved there and invited me to tour the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a friend of hers ~ and that friend was Victoria. I was hoping to reconnect with her, but alas, she wasn’t there when I was. However, I thoroughly enjoyed her breathtaking exhibit.
In the opposite gallery were the quilts of Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry. Caryl has been my favorite quilter and teacher since I first laid eyes on Corona II. Since then I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to take many of her classes, and stay with her when she lived in Paducah. It was so nice to see her and her work.

I’d never seen her first quilt before. A rail fence made from many different types of fabric (This man studied the quilt for so long while I attempted to photograph it, that I decided it would be best to keep him in it 😊).

Her style has definitely changed. I wish I could show you all of her work, but you can search the net for much of it. Caryl was the one to introduce the quilt world to “out of the box” free motion quilting. Just look at the stitching on this quilt! What an innovative mind!

And I want to leave you with my favorite quilt in the AQS Paducah 2025 show, just to give you a taste of some of the fascinating pieces I’ll be sharing next week. This quilt won Viewer’s Choice in the large quilt categories. It was made by Lorelai Kuecker who just turned 16. She also made her dress.


She is sweet, articulate, incredibly talented, and she and has her own sewing and longarm business. Amazing! Click here to visit her site. I met her the first day of the show and was so impressed. She said her mom doesn’t quilt. The next day I ran into them together and couldn’t resist a photo. I’m so grateful to have met them both.

AQS Quilt Week Paducah is such a spectacular event, filled with so much creativity and inspiration. I can’t wait to share more next week!