Live Quilt Auction will Not be Webcast

Live Quilt Auction on Thursday: Due to technical difficulties, the National Quilt Museum's live quilt auction will NOT be webcast on Thursday, April 28, at 6 p.m. The Live Quilt Auction will now be held inside the National Quilt Museum, 215 Jefferson St.

If you ordered the grilled chicken dinner, it will be served in the Food Tent in the parking lot behind the museum on 2nd Street, starting at 5:00 p.m.

Reminder: If you need to pick up your registration packet, a name badge holder, or want to purchase tickets for workshops, lectures, or special events, come to the Workshop Desk in the entrance of the Pavilion (also known as the Big Marshmallow) in downtown Paducah.

All workshops and lectures are being held in the First Baptist Church, 2890 Broadway on the second level. Just look for the room named the same as in the Registration Guide. There is food available at the church.

Quilts & Vendors:  Don't miss any of the quilts or vendors at the AQS venues - the Pavilion in downtown Paducah (corner of 4th Street & Executive Blvd.), which is also the AQS Bus Stop for the shuttles going to hotels and attractions who are participating; the AQS Vendors on Kentucky in the Finkel Building (200 Kentucky Avenue); and the vendors in the Kentucky Oaks Mall area - the former Office Max building and the former Circuit City building where you will find special quilt exhibits and vendors. The small wall quilts in the AQS Contest, including the Best Wall Quilt, are at the First Baptist Church (2890 Broadway) where there is plenty of parking available.

Day 2 of the show is coming up - see you there!

Quilt Show Setup has Begun

While the water is rising in the Ohio River, the AQS staff is busy with alternate preparations for the 27th AQS Quilt Show & Contest. Yesterday we had a 12-hour period to decide what we would do when the city told us they were planning to install the flood gates in our flood wall and that we must evacuate the Expo Center and Convention Center, both of which sit on the river side of the flood wall.

After visiting a variety of buildings and churches, here are the alternate plans we have in place:

Pavilion (also known as the Marshmallow) in downtown Paducah:

• Vendors who were in the Expo Center will be moved to the Pavilion.
• Best of Show and other top awards in the large quilt categories, all of the quilts in 9 categories and their winners, plus the Best Miniature and the miniature category will be displayed here.
• Admissions, Workshops, and AQS Membership Desks will be at the front of the Pavilion, as well as the First Aid Station, Package Check, and the Paducah Visitors Bureau.
• Certified quilt appraisers will be on hand to appraise quilts - this booth is located on the last aisle of the Pavilion.
• American Quilter editors will also be located on the last aisle of the Pavilion.
• The Quilt Life editor Jan Magee will have a booth next to the Ricky Tims' booth in the Pavilion. You can subscribe and meet Ricky Tims too.

Office Max building at Kentucky Oaks Mall:

• Vendors who were in the Pavilion will be moved to the Office Max Building.
• Winners of the 2011 AQS Lancaster Quilt Show, and the 2012 Pilgrim/Roy Challenge will be on display.

Circuit City building at Kentucky Oaks Mall:

• Vendors who were in the Convention Center (1st and 2nd floors) will be located here.
• Special quilt exhibits include the Alliance for American Quilts Contest quilts, and the AQS Authors' Quilt Exhibit.

Food Tent:
No Paducah quilt show is complete without some southern barbeque, strawberry shortcake, ribs from Larry-Larry & Darrell, and many other treats. We couldn't disappoint you there either. We will have them all, but they will move just a couple of blocks - to the parking lot on 2nd Street, just behind the National Quilt Museum.

Live Quilt Auction:
One change is that the Live Quilt Auction will be held inside the National Quilt Museum, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Enjoy a grilled chicken dinner at the Food Tent from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. and then head across the street to the museum for the auction.

AQS School of Quiltmaking:
All classes - workshops and lectures - will be held at the 1st Baptist Church, 2890 Broadway. There is plenty of parking on three sides of the building. Look the AQS Quilt Show sandwich board sign for the entrance.

• Lectures will be held in the Chapel on the first floor.
• The Best Wall Quilt and all of the entries in the small wall categories will be displayed in the Great Room on the first floor of the church.
• All workshops will be held in ten classrooms on the second  floor of the church; there is an elevator just inside the entrance for easy access to the classrooms.
• Special Events being held at the 1st Baptist Church include the All-Star Review, the AQS Authors' Roundtable, Stitched - the Movie, and the evening with Charlotte Angotti. All of these events will take place in the Chapel/Lecture Hall.
• If you have any questions, Educator Coordinator Marcelle Cashon, Klaudeen Hansen, and Sylvia Thomas will be at the church to assist you.

Special Events at the Carson Four Rivers Center:
All activities at the Carson Center will be held as scheduled. Shuttle service from the AQS Bus Stop at the Pavilion will begin 45 minutes prior to the start of the events.

There will be shuttle service to all of these venues, plus the AQS Vendors on Kentucky (Finkel Building) where more vendors and the AQS "Hurt Book" Sales are located.  The bus drivers can tell you which route they are running and where they can stop.

If you need to pick up your advanced registration packet, a name badge holder, and wish to purchase tickets for workshops, lectures, or special events, check at the Workshop Desk inside the entrance to the Pavilion. The Workshop Desk will be open from 12 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, and from 8 a.m. to close on show days.

Tomorrow the quilts will be hung and the winners of the AQS Quilt Contest will be announced at the Carson Four Rivers Center, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m., and the show officially opens at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Phew... what a week, but we did it. We can't wait for you all to see the beautiful quilts on display this year!

See you at the show!

Bonnie Browning
Executive Show Director