After our fun Big Bold Hand Stitching class on Friday afternoon it was time to leave the convention center and head off along the street to Walker Hall for the Winners Showcase and the big announcement… For the first time ever the Best of Show had been chosen by an on-line vote from the fourteen first prize winners previously judged by an expert panel.
Plentiful hors d’oeuvres were served and enjoyed while we chatted at our tables
,Meredith Schroeder started the evening off,
before Mark Sherman took over as emcee.
He delivered a moving tribute to Bill Schroeder who, with Meredith, founded AQS back in 1984, and who died earlier this year.
Then it was time for the awards. Not everyone was there to receive their checks but those who were, were applauded loudly!
We worked our way through all the categories and then the top seven and then the Best of Show. Congratulations to Kathy McNeil for All You Need is Love! All the winners can be enjoyed at the AQS website here
She’s the one holding the bouquet of red roses while she’s declared Duchess of Paducah by the mayor’s emissary…
It was a lovely evening. Congratulations to all the deserving winners.
Just one more day of classes.
On Saturday morning we brought our bags of scraps and our happy thoughts for Happy Scrappy Improv Quilts in the BERNINA classroom.
Three hours only gave everyone a chance to get started but here’s a little taste of what was achieved.
Elements of Happy Scrappy mixed with blocks from a Maria Shell class.
Some bright cheerful pieces,
and some sophisticated batiks.
The start of something great?
There was another All Star Review in the afternoon with ten teachers including me. This time I demoed walking foot quilting… ten minutes, no machine… love my place mats!!
And that was that. All done.
Remember I told you Paducah airport is little?
This is the waiting area.
And outside the door our plane was waiting.
Goodbye Paducah. I had a super time at your first ever Fall Quilt week. I asked my students how many had ever been to Paducah before and I’d say about half of each class were new to the experience. I hope we all get the chance to go back again soon!
It was a busy few days at home, unpacking, repacking and all that stuff. I’m writing this in my hotel room in Huntsville, Alabama before I go out to deliver my lecture to the Heritage Quilters. Never a dull moment?
