Paducah to host AQS Spring Quilt Week April 26-29

Paducah will host the annual American Quilters Society’s Spring QuiltWeek – Paducah April 26–29. 

Known as Quilt City USA®, Paducah is the headquarters for the AQS and the original location for QuiltWeek. Paducah serves as an incubator for the fiber arts community, which helped secure the city’s designation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City of Crafts & Folk Art.

This year’s AQS Quilt Week will feature classes and workshops from nearly 30 instructors, a merchant mall and a quilt contest with $126,000 in cash awards. 

Paducah offers a number of quilt and fabric shops, studios and galleries, featuring fiber art and the National Quilt Museum. Paducah also will embrace QuiltWeek with other quilt-related community events throughout the city:

• View Contemporary quilts at The National Quilt Museum, daily

The National Quilt Museum, encompassing 30,000 square feet of contemporary gallery space, is the largest of its kind in the world. Featuring a rotating 650-piece collection of contemporary quilts. 

• Fantastic Fibers at Yeiser Art Center, April 8–June 24

Paducah’s Yesier Art Center hosts an international juried exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium. One of Yeiser Art Center’s most engaging, innovative and colorful international exhibits, Fantastic Fibers is an inspirational must see for fine artists, quilters and textile art enthusiasts across the globe. 

• The Graffiti Cherrywood Challenge: West Side, April 24-29

Experience the Graffiti Cherrywood Challenge at the 720 Harrison Street Gallery. There will be gallery talks daily at 1 p.m. and quilting classes with textile artist MJ Kinman. Register at cherrywoodfabrics.com.

• The Paducah Quilt Show, April 26-29

View quilt exhibits and shop vendors at the Paducah Quilt Show at Floral Hall in Carson Park. Admission is $3 per person. For more information, visit thepaducahquiltshow.com.

• Open Quilter Studio at A.I.R. Studio, April 26-May 4

Contemporary quilter Diana S. Fox will be the artist in residence at Paducah’s A.I.R. Studio. Fox, along with artists Beth Schillig and Donalee Kennedy, will hold open studio hours on April 26 from 1-5 p.m., April 29 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., May 2 from 3-7 p.m. and May 4 from 2-5 p.m. For more information, visit airstudiopaducah.com.

• Barn Quilt Projects & Open Studio at Better Than Ever, April 26-29

Visit Better Than Ever for paint-your-own-pottery, canvas, wood signs and more. No experience necessary and supplies and instruction are provided. For more information, visit betterthaneverhome.com.

• Demonstrations at Art Guild of Paducah, daily

The group that promotes the visual arts and artists in Paducah and the surrounding region, the Art Guild of Paducah, will be offering free demos each day by a variety of artists and artistic techniques including batik, fabric bowls, needle felting and pottery. For more information, visit artguildofpaducah.org.

• Barn Quilt Painting at MAKE, April 26

MAKE, an art studio for all ages, is hosting a night of crafting on April 26. Guests can paint their own barn quilt square while enjoying food and drink for a night out in Paducah. For more information, visit makepaducah.com.

• Fiber Art Exhibition at Barbara Veazey Antiques & Fiber Art, April 26-29

Barbara Veazey Antiques & Fiber Art, an antique and fiber art shop located in the Lower Town Arts District, will exhibit works by local fiber artists including Debbie Morgan, for guests to view and shop. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3ZPGCHM.

• Traditional Spinning Wool Demonstration at McCracken County Public Library, April 27

Paducah’s McCracken County Public Library will host a demonstration of spinning wool with fiber artist Lezlie Russell of the Southern Illinois Spinners and Weavers Guild. They will also display quilts by the Paducah Stitch n' Quilt Guild. For more information, visit mclib.net.

• QuiltWeek Fun at Bricolage Art Collective, April 27-28

Bricolage Art Collective, a space for artists to showcase work, will host two days of events to shop and win fiber art pieces. For more information, visit bricolageartcollective.com.

• QuiltWeek Tours at Whitehaven Welcome Center

Visitors can enjoy guided tours of Paducah’s 1860s antebellum mansion decorated with more than 50 hand-stitched quilts. Complimentary tours are available daily starting at 9 a.m. with the last tour at 3:45 p.m. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3ZHXe4t.

• Dr. Alicestyne Turley at Hotel Metropolitan, April 28

Dr. Alicestyne Turley, a long-time scholar of history, political science, sociology and anthropology, will speak on the importance of African American quilters to the underground railroad initiative at Paducah’s Hotel Metropolitan, a living history museum located in the city's first African American owned hotel. Tickets are $25 each. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3nMIsfn.

For more information on Spring AQS QuiltWeek Paducah, visit www.paducah.travel/quilting/aqs-quiltweek-paducah