The AQS quilt show in Paducah was just phenomenal. I’ve been to lots of wonderful quilt shows, but this one really did impress me. The quality of the quilts and the caliber of the competition – wow! Here’s a sampling of some quilts that caught my eye. It’s hard to choose – there were so many!

The quilts in the Machine Quilting Mastery Exhibit truly were masterful.

This one is called Beauty From Within” by Renae Haddadin.

Graffiti, Sunflowers and Bricks by Judy Woodworth, also in the Machine Quilting Mastery Exhibit.

Butterfly Migration by Judy Woodworth from the same exhibit.

Cockatoos by Sue Patten, also from that exhibit. This was simply gorgeous.

This beauty won Best of Show for Wall Quilts: Imagining India, by Pat Holly

Also from the Wall Quilt category: B.S. I Love You, by Janet Stone. Definitely a prize winner.

This gorgeous quilt, Coral Sea, by Betty Busby, of Albuquerque New Mexico, won a third place ribbon in the show. Congratulations Betty!

Tomorrow I’ll post some more photos of quilts that caught my eye at Paducah.

Click here to see a list of all the winners at Paducah.

And click here to see the full photo album on my Facebook page.

This is the entrance to the AQS Show. I hope I win that car!

I’m on my way home from Paducah now, after a fabulous time at the AQS show. Paducah is like Mecca to quillters, we all want to go to this fabulous show at least once. It has all the wonderful home town flavor of a state fair in the lovely state of Kentucky! My classes and students were just incredible fun! AQS treated the teachers royally – I feel like a princess. Here’s some highlights I want to share with you:

A typical scene in the Garber/Paducah sweatshop! Ladies hard at work – oh did we have fun!

These are the first round exercises by my students in the Color and Contrast Class. The creativity of my students always impresses me.

At dinner last night at Flamingo Row, in Paducah, with old friends and new – Cindy Hagen, Dina Garland, and Bonnie Morton. Yours truly is second from left, of course. This was a fun restaurant. Can’t you tell just by the decor?

I’ll post some more about this wonderful trip later this week and show you some of the amazing prize winning quilts.
Click here to see the full photo album on my Facebook page.

We had so much fun at Asilomar, I couldn’t help sharing a few more photos with you!

Anne Richardson is working on this beautiful circular star design.

Debbie Wickstrom is designing a quilt of the four seasons, with different seasonal colors in each block.

Melissa Cowden McGinnis nearly finished her swirling design in class, just one star to go. This is a masterful piece. I love the way the designs flow.

Here’s a few more photos from my fabulous week of teaching at Empty Spools Seminars in Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California.

Cathy Stone very nearly completed her design in class! She lacks only one more circular star in the opposite corner! Way to go, Cathy!

Gale Wrigley designed a spectacular sunburst, one of two that represent the solar system with two stars.

Debra Barnes made these terrific fishies that are part of a larger design. I can’t wait to see where she goes from here!

All my students were SO creative. I get so much inspiration from them!

My week at the Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar Conference Grounds was so much fun, I thought I’d share some more photos of our class with you.

Sonja Sellers designed a Monarch Butterfly that is filled with different pieced fillers. Although you see only one lower wing here, she pieced both sides at the same time.

Jill Monley had perhaps the most whimsical design, based on the fairy tale,”The Princess and the Pea”. It’s for a guild challenge. Can you see the “pea” at the bottom of the mattresses and the feet of the princess perched atop them all. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Lynn Hart designed this fanciful fish. I’m looking forward to seeing a photo of the finished quilt.

I spent the last week teaching at the Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. The conference grounds are unbelivably beautiful. So inspirational for quilters.

And it’s just about the finest teaching experience anywhere! Five full days with a small group of students. What great fun we had –and now I have 11 new friends. Here’s a photo of our class.

Click here to see the full photo album.

Watch for more blog posts about our week!

As you know, in March I taught a paper piecing class on a cruise in the Caribbean.  The slide show from the Allure of Paper Piecing Cruise by Stitchin’ Heaven Travel is now posted to You Tube.

Here’s the link to it.    Be sure to check out their upcoming cruises. It was simply, a blast!

And, here’s a photo of all of us, – in our matching, lime green T-shirts around a really cool car on the ship, Allure of the Seas.

Can you find me in the picture????

Here’s a few photos from the fabulous Allure of Paper Piecing Cruise:

Yours truly at Fort Lauderdale after boarding the ship.

A better view of the ship.

Here we are waiting to dock at Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas – 50 knot winds! I’m with Carol Doak, who is also teaching on the cruise and Deb Luttrell, the creator of Stitching Heaven Quilting Cruises, and several of the ladies in the class.

And of course I have to share a bird photo with you. This is a Cuban grassquit seen in a private garden at Nassau, Bahamas.

I’ll share more photos when I return.