Back from the AQS Show in Paducah

I'm back from the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, KY. I really enjoy this show. One of the nicest things about it is that the entire town welcomes the quilters to the show. Almost every business has a window display and/or sign welcoming all quilters to town. It is VERY cool. I'll be posting some pictures from that show a bit later. I still have a few from Chicago I want to share. What I'm trying to do is show you quilts that really struck me for some reason. They may not have won an award at this particular show, so you might not get a chance to see them otherwise.

The following quilts are all from the Chicago show. This first quilt was made by Laura Wasilowski from Elgin, IL. It is an original design and is fused using hand-dyed cotton fabrics. This one did win an award. I loved the colors and design.

The next quilt really didn't "catch my eye" right off the bat; but when I got close to it, I was mesmerized! Each of the blocks is made up of pieces appliqued to the fabric to make it look like a stone wall. There are THOUSANDS of appliqued "stones." It was just amazing. I did include a closeup for you to see. The quilt is called, "Castle Wall," and was made by Trudy Kleinstein from Switzerland. It is hand quilted and has about 3,400 separate pieces! Remember, you can click on the picture of the quilts to get a better look.This is the closeup of a block from "Castle Wall."The shows have proven to be a good place to check out quilting books I can't find around here. I ended up purchasing several books--"Taking Flight to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings," "Fabricate," "Mixed-Media Self-Portraits Inspiration & Technique," "Penny Haren's Pieced Applique More Blocks & Projects,"Mixed-Media Collage: An Exploration of Contemporary Artists, Methods, and Materials;" and I pre-ordered "Inspired to Quilt: Creative Experiments in Art Quilt Imagery." (The last books isn't due out till May 1.) I LOVE books, and tend to collect them. I get such inspiration from the creative projects I find in them. Every time I go through them, I am SO inspired. I did buy a few other things at the shows...a few patterns, notions, and fabric (for a project I'm doing at the house to go with my new color scheme). I purchased way less than usual, because of the UFO Challenge. It has given me a whole new perspective on starting new projects.

Check back...I'll be posting more Chicago pics along with some from Paducah.