Trip

Another snowy day at our place.  We have about 6 or 7 inches of really wet snow.  Fortunately, the roads are just wet right now and not slippery.


Just a few days ago my friend and I were in Paducah, Kentucky, for the AQS quilt show.  We had been planning this trip for about two years and finally made it.  We did a little side trip on the way down and went to the Fons and Porter shop in Winterset, Iowa, as well as John Wayne's birthplace there. 

While in Winterset, we went to the city park to see a covered bridge.  Winterset is in Madison County (of "Bridges of Madison County" movie fame).

Next stop was Missouri Star Quilt Company in Hamilton, Missouri, then to the Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almonzo Wilder home in Mansfield, Missouri, in the Ozarks.

While in the Mansfield area, we went to visit the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  This is who Mr. M and I buy all of our vegetable seeds from.  It was fun being there and seeing the little town they have set up, called Bakerville.  There are several old buildings such as a hotel, general store, and apothecary, besides the store where they sell their seeds.

We saw so many beautiful redbud trees in bloom in that part of Missouri.

We arrived in Paducah, Kentucky, a day early, but that allowed us to become familiar with where the quilt show and other attractions were before the big rush.  The quilt show was wonderful; there were over 200 vendors plus so many absolutely beautiful quilts.  I would love to show you some pictures of the quilts, but we were only allowed to photograph them on the condition that we would not put them on the internet.

We spent a few hours at Hancocks of Paducah, especially in their backroom sale area.

One day we took the Dogwood Tour, which usually happens earlier, but this year we were lucky enough to be there during the later time the dogwoods were in bloom.  Many people have lights shining on their trees and they enter the contest to see if their dogwood might win as best of the year.
This picture is not only a dogwood but a beautiful wisteria as well.

Eleanor Burns (Quilt in a Day) was in Paducah all four days of the show and gave three 1 1/2 hour shows of her own each day focusing on quilts made from her new book.

It was a lot of fun; she's such a wonderful, down-to-earth person.



We also spent a while looking at the murals on the flood wall.  Paducah is on the Ohio River, right where the Tennessee River joins it.  They've had some pretty bad floods in the past, so several years ago a flood wall was built.  Then an artist painted several murals on it about the history of the city.

Look at the wonderful cobblestone street; it looked like it might have been original.



We were in Paducah for five days so we had a lot of time to enjoy the beauty of the area, but were also very impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of all of the people we met there.  We had heard that those who live in the South are so very nice, and we found it to be true.

We had such a great time and may go back again someday (or maybe to another quilt show--Houston, next time??), but it's nice to be back home, too (even though we have snow and no leaves on the trees or flowers in bloom).