Friday, January 30, 2009

BIG Ice Storm in Paducah

As many of you know since Paducah has been on the national news -- we have had a major ice storm and the AQS office and most of our homes are without electricity and telephone service. Even our cell phones have been out and are just now coming back up.

The ice has damaged trees and utility lines all over the state of Kentucky. More than 400,000 households were without electrical service. Crews from other states have now joined our local utilities to restore that power. The National Guard has been called in to help remove trees that are blocking roads.

When I left the office on Tuesday about 3:00 p.m., our power had gone out and our office telephone system was out too. Even as we worked on Tuesday, we could hear the trees cracking and falling to the ground. That has continued, and branches are still falling. Last night one limb tore our phone box off our house. The temperatures have only gotten into the 20's each day so the ice hasn't started to melt yet.

If you are trying to register for the Paducah Quilt Show, we cannot currently receive your registrations. The online registration is not working, our fax machine is not working, and we are not at the office. Watch this Blog for more information when we are back up to power and can take your phone calls and registrations.

Bonnie Browning - writing to you from the Paducah Library, which has had its power and phone lines restored. Stay warm wherever you are...we have having some challenges in doing that.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Contest to Benefit the Quilt Museum

There is still time to enter one more AQS contest for the Paducah Quilt Show.

Each year AQS sponsors a quilt contest and the items are donated to the annual Quilt Auction in Paducah. The 2009 theme is Twenty-five in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the American Quilter's Society. Here is the link for the rules and entry form for this contest:

http://www.americanquilter.com/documents/shows_contests/paducah/09_25_rules.pdf .

The rules are easy - just make a quilt with 25 of anything — 25 blocks, 25 squares, 25 fabrics, 25 flowers — 25 of something. Each quilt must be constructed of fabric; be pieced, appliquéd, or use other quiltmaking techniques; and be quilted by hand, machine, or both. The minimum size is 30" on a side; there is no maximum size.

$1,000 in cash prizes are awarded to the winners in this contest. Send the completed "Twenty-five" quilt and entry form to AQS by by March 2, 2009.

These quilts will be displayed at the show until it's time for the auction on Thursday.

Good luck with your entry. If you have any questions, please call Mary Beth Head at 270-898-7903.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Quilt Contest Entries

Hundreds of quilt entries have arrived at the AQS office. We received five big mail trays like this in just one day.

Sharon Durbin, our Quilt Contest Coordinator, has been busy opening and entering these entries, along with some assistance from Tracey Hawes. If you are wondering if your entry has arrived, you can see that it is hard for us to wade through all of the entries to find just one.

Once the entry information has been input into the computer, we will get the images ready for jurying in February. In early March, all contestants will be notified with the results of the jury process.

Good luck to all of the contestants who entered the 25th Anniversary AQS Quilt Contest! Will you be the next winner?

Registration for the Paducah show is open online, http://www.americanquilter.com/ (click on Shows & Contests) or you can call 270-898-7903 to register by telephone. If you need a copy of the registration guide, you can also view or print it online too.

Reconstruction is Underway at the Convention Center!

Click on the photos for a larger image.


Today was a bright and very cold day (9 degrees) here in Paducah, and our staff went to the Julian Carroll Convention Center to see the progress being made on the reconstruction of the facility. We've all been waiting for these construction trailers to be parked in front of the center -- that means reconstruction work is underway!

We were all required to wear hard hats in the construction area. Here Terry Guill, Meredith Schroeder, and Rick Loyd discuss the some of the details related to the renovation of the Julian Carroll Convention Center with Downtown Development Director Steve Doolittle (blue jacket). I'm busy shooting some photos so you, too, can see what is happening. It was a slow start to this project but now work is well underway and Black & Sons Construction plans to have it all finished and ready for the arrival of the quilters in April.
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We will all appreciate the new wider doorways into the classrooms, new lights everywhere, Smart Boards in the classrooms, new restroom facilities, and even some new sign holders marking the rooms making it easier to see what is being held in each room.


Scissor lifts make it easier to work on the ceiling of the exhibit hall. You can see why everyone wears the hard hats. There are many different groups of workmen working throughout the building and a construction zone like this is no place to take a chance. So that means we had "hat hair" for a while today! It was worth it to be able to show you what is happening.

Work progresses on raising the ceiling in this portion of the second floor of the convention center. That will add a lot more light to view the wall quilts that are exhibited in this area.
We'll have an updated report on the Executive Inn soon....stay tuned.
Bonnie Browning
Executive Show Director

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Listen In with Bonnie Browning of AQS

Hi everyone, join us on Friday as Sally Terry talks with Bonnie Browning, AQS Executive Show Director. Learn what is new and exciting about the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the American Quilter’s Society in April.

See you there.We hope you can join us for about 30 minutes...go to www.sallyterry.com and listen to the interview anytime.

You are welcome to go to the link below and submit questions for Bonnie or ask her questions during the interview.

There are lots of preparations being made for this international quilting event that focuses on recognizing today’s quiltmakers. Don’t miss it.

EVENT: AQS 25th Anniversary Quilt Show
DATE & TIME: Friday, January 9th at 2:00pm Central
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast -- it's your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK at 2 p.m. on Friday...
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=5601486 .

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Entry Deadline is January 5

Just a reminder that your entries for the AQS Quilt Contest and the AQS Fashion Contest for the Paducah quilt show need to be postmarked tomorrow - January 5.

All photos need to be digital this year - if you have slides or photos, you can take them to your local camera shop, or photo studio in stores like Walgreens and Walmart and they can help you get them on a CD.

If you have any questions about entering, please call Sharon Durbin at 270-898-7903, ext. 174.

Good luck with your entries. You could be a winner at our 25th Anniversary Show in April!

Bonnie Browning
Executive Show Director