Paducah?

10/15/2023 – 10/29/2023

Well, we are almost to the end of Journey East 2023. Two more stops before we slow down in North Carolina for a month. The first stop is a week in the Indianapolis area to visit several friends and family. Then it is on to Paducah, KY for a week. Paducah?

Happy Halloween?

Our home will be the Old Mill Campground in Thorntown, Indiana. As I was checking in, I noticed a note on our paperwork that said, “Follow the map to site #297. If that site does not work for you, site #293 is open. Please stop at the office tomorrow and let us know which site you chose.” I shrugged my shoulders, hopped in the truck and proceeded to site #297. As I was leading Bill down to the site, I soon realized why we were given a choice in sites. Site 297 was right next to a frightening display of creepy clowns! Oh, hell no! I’m not having some gigantic scary clown creeping in my window! Site 293 it is. LOL

The next morning, I stopped in the office to let them know we took site 293 and thank you VERY much for giving us that option. They laughed. Apparently, they had a big Halloween hoopla with trick or treating for the kids. Whatever… this display was a little extreme. Don’t you agree?

Catching Up with Friends

This was a week to relax and catch up with some friends. My friend, Kathy, stopped by several times during the week to visit after work and we spent one whole day doing one of our favorite things… shopping, talking and cutting up! LOL

Saturday, we all drove down to Nashville, IN and enjoyed a beautiful fall day wandering around this quaint little town in the rolling hills of Brown County. The foliage was at its peak and the weather was fantastic! It was a perfect day!!

Bill spent some time with an old friend from his days at Reynolds and Reynolds and we both caught up with our friends, Jack and Ann. Then to finish out the week, we enjoyed another delicious meal and engaging conversation with Bill’s cousin Kelly, her husband Adam and their son Seamus. It is always nice passing through this area and seeing everyone!

My Current Project

During the days while everyone else was working, I worked on my current quilt project. I started building these blocks in April and finally completed them this week. Now it is time to lay them out and see how the quilt will come together.

In my house, I had a large design wall that I could put the blocks on, stand back and re-arrange as necessary to balance out the colors. My home on wheels does not have a design wall, so I used the next best thing… my living room floor! It was a bit tight, but I managed to get it all laid out and arranged. Now it is time to start sewing all the rows together. This top is close to being finished. Yay!

Paducah?

Week two is being spent in Paducah. Where the heck is Paducah and why Paducah?? Paducah is a town in western Kentucky at the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers. It was founded in 1827 by William Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark. Why visit Paducah? Because it is home to the National Quilt Museum!

Home this week is a great little campground called Birdsville Riverside RV Park. Our site is right on the Ohio River! The days passed by watching the tugboats push their loads up and down the river, enjoying the cool river breezes, watching the sunsets and working a new puzzle. It doesn’t get much better than this.

National Quilt Museum

On our free day this week, we travelled into town and checked out the National Quilt Museum. The museum was opened in 1991 by Bill and Meredith Schroeder who were influential publishers in Paducah and founders of the American Quilters Society. In 2008 the museum received its “national” designation from the US Congress. It has attracted nearly one millions visitors and curated over 250 exhibits. I could not wait to check out the current exhibits; Celebrating 15 Years Commemorative Exhibit, Primal Forces: Wind, Block of the Month Club and Quilts of Valor.

Celebrating 15 Years Commemorative Exhibit

This collection is a permanent collection representing quilters from the US and around the world. Each of the quilts in this collection are truly works of art. From a distance they look like a painting. Up close it is easy to see the layers of fabric used to create these masterpieces and the quilting that gives the work movement. I was in awe.

This is a picture of one of the quilts from a distance of about 10′. The second is from about 10″. You can see the details of all the little pieces of material used to create the building reflections in the water. Incredible!!

Here is a little slide show of some of my favorite quilts from this exhibit. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Primal Forces: Wind

This exhibit is the second in a three-part series of Earth, Wind, Fire. Each quilt represents some form of wind, from a light breeze on the beach or blowing pinwheels to a hurricane and tornado.

Check out how the quilting gives this piece movement.

Block of the Month Club

The NQM Block of the Month Club challenges quilters to experiment with new techniques and styles while connecting with other quilters from all over the world. This exhibit includes 12 quilts that are chosen from participants submissions based on individual interpretations of the block themes, creativity in layout and overall workmanship. I loved seeing the same blocks interpreted differently. What do you think? Which is your favorite? Mine is #2.

The next round begins in May 2024. Something for me to think about…

Quilts of Valor

I am familiar with the Quilts of Valor program and felt blessed to see all these beautiful patriotic quilts. Quilts of Valor began in 2003 with a dream. The founder of the program, Catherine Roberts’ son was deployed in Iraq at the time. In her dream, she recalls vividly seeing a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over with a feeling of despair. She said she could see his war demons clustered around and dragging him down into an emotional gutter. Then in the next part of the dream she saw the same young man wrapped in a quilt and his whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being. She said the message of her dream was that quilts = healing.

Aren’t they all beautiful?

The Quilts of Valor Foundation appreciates the service and sacrifices of those who are serving or who have served in the Armed Forces. Each quilt is stitched together with the thoughts and prayers of the quilt maker. This collection of quilts will be awarded in November on Veterans Day to local veterans and active-duty service members in appreciation of their service defending our nation and our freedoms.

Miniature Quilts

The last room of the museum displayed a small collection of miniature quilts. Last year when we were in Missouri, I had the pleasure of seeing a display of these tiny quilts and was astonished. If you would like to see those again, click here. It is hard to even fathom the work and talent it takes to create these tiny treasures. As I looked at this collection, I was just as amazed as I was a year ago.

Look at those TINY LITTLE PIECES!!!

It only took about 2 hours to go through the museum but it was a great 2 hours! Anyone who thinks quilting is not an art, needs to visit the museum. And for all the quilters and artists out there, it is a must see!

Flood Wall Murals

The Paducah flood walls were built between 1939 and 1940 by the Army Corps of Engineers. They were built after the great flood of 1937 when the City of Paducah was under 11 feet of water. The 14’ high, 3-mile-long wall now protects and minimizes the flood risk for the city.

The mural project began in 1996 as a way to share Paducah’s rich history along the Ohio River with the community and visitors alike. With the help of Bill and Merridith Schroeder (the same people that created the quilt museum) the first twenty-panel timeline was completed in 2001. The last 10 murals were unveiled in 2022.

The murals are a short walk from the quilt museum right along the downtown riverfront. They literally painted the rich history of the area and it was a nice way to spend an hour.

Hancock Fabrics

Because I am part of a quilting group on FB, I am constantly learning about “must visit” fabric stores, museums and other quilty places to see. This is, after all, how I heard about the National Quilt Museum. Well, that’s not entirely true, I had a co-worker who mentioned it to me many years ago and I stored that tidbit in the far back reaches of my brain. Anyway… Hancock Fabrics is one of those places and it happens to be in Paducah. Go figure!

You got a busy day working today, Bill? I’m so sorry, I guess I’ll have to go to Hancock’s without you. 😉

OMG, what a fabulous find! The store is huge and it is pretty much laid out by designer and their prices are not bad. And bonus, they have a lot of great fabric on clearance at $4 and $5 a yard! That’s pretty cheap.

Well…. I got my buggy and walked up and down every single aisle. I only bought what I absolutely needed. And as luck would have it, my mom texted me in the middle of my shopping experience to see what I was up to. I sent her a picture. She says I have a problem and I might need an intervention. Nah… I just need more time to sew and create quilty things. 😊

What’s Next?

It was a nice relaxing week in Paducah and now we will be heading to Mebane, NC for the month of November. We will be visiting Bill’s family and celebrating Thanksgiving with them.