Quilt week concludes after thousands enjoy classes, competition in Paducah

The population of “Quilt City USA" will be about 30,000 less after this weekend, as the annual American Quilters Society quilt show came to a close on Saturday.

The thousands of quilters returned to Paducah for Quilt Week. They attended classes and lectures, shopped with dozens of visiting vendors and local businesses, and viewed hundreds of the finest quilting efforts brought in from around the world.

Awards for top quilts were handed out to visitors from Japan, England, Australia and Canada, as well as American quilters here for the 37th edition of the show. Margaret Solomon of Gorham, Maine took Best of Show honors.

The ladies concentrated their activities around the Convention Center and the Quilt Museum, but also wandered throughout downtown and frequented the local stores and restaurants around their sold-out motels. A report from AQS in 2019 said that Quilt Week's impact on the local economy is about $25 million annually.

Local commuters took alternate routes to steer clear of the quilt traffic, and some highway construction projects were even put on hold for the week.

The show officially began on Wednesday, although visitors began arriving in town the previous weekend. The event concluded Saturday at 4 p.m.




(Aerial photo by Mark Edwards)