Day 159- September 22 Olmstead, IL to Paducah, KY

September 22, 2024

Another day of slow and steady to keep the water pump

from self imploding on the way to Paducah, KY.

Hitchhiker

He was only about 2" big. I used the flyswatter to get him off the window.

We had anchored just downstream of the Olmstead Lock for the night.
We all moved out nice and early to beat any commercial traffic.

Not done with locks yet.

There was a ton of dust every time the operator opened his bucket.

This is where the naughty tugs had to go and sit in the corner.

This reconstructed fort was used by just about everybody that came along. The French, the British, the Colonials, the US Army.

We have arrived at Paducah.

The City dock at Paducah. Note how high the steel pilings are. This is to allow for the flood stages of the river. Even the intermediate landing of this ramp will float when the river is up.

First stop in Paducah, even before Walmart!!

The Mecca of quilting and we are here.

The National Quilt Museum was established by Bill and Meredith Schroeder of Paducah and opened to the public on April 25, 1991. It is the only museum dedicated to contemporary quilts and quiltmakers.

This quilt has an interesting story. Find it here.
This close up shows the stitching detail. Amazing!

The quilting, whether hand stitched or machine quilted was part of what made each quilt so incredible.

Those of you who don't know me well, I owned a fabric and sewing machine shop for 10 years in my early life. I not only made, but taught classes on how to make many of these quilts.

There were many traditional quilts as well as the modern quilts.

Fun quilts.

An entire hall was full of very modern and abstract quilts.

This was a Bernia Sewing Machine Company award winner.

This polar bear was amazing!! So realistic, full size, so many layers of lace.

This next group are all miniatures. Each being 16" x 16" or smaller.

The pieces in each were TINY!!

8,400 pieces?!!?!
From a distance it looked like a photograph.
The next picture shows the detail in the shadow of the the one boat.

Love these photo-art quilts. So many pieces to make it look real.

This was made from a photo of the INTERNATIONAL Quilt Show that takes place in Houston, TX every year. I immediately recognized it as I have attended this show many times. It is the equivalent of this museum on steroids. This quilt maker replicated the photo, right down to the quilts hanging at the original show. Here is a close up showing details of the hanging quilts from the original photo.