A Quilter's Mecca (Part 1)

When we moved to Nashville, I had no idea that we would be living 2.75 hours from a quilter's mecca in Paducah, Kentucky.  Lucky me!  In April, I got to attend the annual quilt show there.  Busloads and carloads of frenzied women descended upon the tiny city, which welcomed them us with open arms.  Jill, a friend from the Bay Area, planned her trip out here just so she could go to the show.  She can check off the Paducah quilt show from her bucket list, along with seeing The Biltmore.  Sew, here are some of my favorite quilts in no particular order.

 Hot Africa, 99" x 48"

Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga

Kollumerzwaag, Friesland, The Netherlands

Before I met Howard he got to spend a month in Africa.  Lucky!  It was hot there and since then, all heat has been compared to Africa.  For example, Tennessee summers are not "Africa hot" even though they feel like it to me - who is still waiting for the opportunity to experience "Africa hot".  Anyway, this huge quilt is so well done that it radiates heat when you stand in front of it.  (I had to use my Chinese 'hot flash' fan to cool down before moving on to the next quilt.)  The quilt was inspired by a photo that De Vries-Bodzinga took while traveling in Africa.  I'm sure that "Africa hot" really makes an impression on someone from the Netherlands!

Jam Session in the Twilight, 69" x 77"

Taeko Okamatsu

Hino, Tokyo, Japan

While I'm on the subject of Howard, this reminded me of him.  He loves jazz and I love to listen to him play the piano - even when he's practicing the same measure over and over again.  The quilters from Japan never cease to amaze me.  Most of their quilts are amazingly artistic and pay lots of attention to detail.

 Jazz, 71" x 83"

Megumi Mizuno

Shiki, Saitama, Japan

Here's a sample of the detail in a Japanese quilt.  Each of the 90 cartoon-like jazz figures is hand appliqued and stitched.  There are French knots outlining the white ovals around each figure and the whole thing is hand quilted, making this the 2nd place winner in the hand quilting category.  Go here to see almost the whole quilt.

 Granddaughters' Flower Garden, 64" x 81"

Jan Cunningham

Acworth, GA

Here's a modern take on a traditional Baltimore quilt.  I like the idea that a color background adds a lot to a 'black and white' quilt.

 Catena, 67" x 62"

Timna Tarr

South Hadley, MA

Apparently 'catena' means a connected series of related things.  I'm always drawn to quilts that play with bright colors and patterns, where you have to investigate to figure out what's going on.  First, I noticed the hexagons and then I noticed a few hexagons weren't quite 'connected' to the others.  Can you find them?  I found four.  How many can you find?

 Quilt Tidings from Switzerland, 66" x 29"

Natsumi Ohara

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Hey Charles family, this one is for you!  Ohara thought Switzerland was beautiful and interesting and based this quilt on the Swiss flag and postage stamps.  Do any of you Charleseses recognize any of these stamps?

I love all the details, especially the postage mark stamp.  This reminds me that I've always wanted to make a foreign postage stamp quilt.  Okay, that's it for today.  More quilts tomorrow.

P. S.  Howard told me he got the phrase "Africa hot" from this scene.