My, Oh My...What Has Taken Me So Long?

My promise to Blog right after Paducah didn't happen exactly the way I thought it would. Excuses aside, I was gobsmacked by my first trip to Quilt Week. Moving forward I can see this as an annual pilgrimage and wonder what in the heck took me so long to get down there. After all I live in the south suburbs of Chicago--Paducah is only a quick five hour drive from my house!

So, here we go...

a capsulized version of a life-changing experience for a quilt lover:

 Three first-timers heading to Paducah with excitement-overload running through their Quilty minds!

Glenna, Karen, and Sandy ready to roll.

We left Sunday noon for the 374 mile drive, and would spend 6 nights and 7 glorious days at Quilt Week in Paducah, Kentucky. And here we are!

About day four or five we ran into this fun photo op.

Some random photos:

Hancock's of Paducah. Are we in heaven?

Opening Night at the National Quilt Museum. Fabulous quilts and wonderful food--the perfect combination!

Lisa Bonnegan owner of Primitive Gatherings, Sandy, Karen, and Teresa

Sandy and Karen with Ricky Tims!!!

I met Kat from Studiokat Designs! She designs such fabulous bags! I've been following her on Facebook and it was great to meet her...what a nice person.

With author Marie Bostwick...her hair is gorgeous by the way!

OH, YES I DID-- I bought it!
Block a Day for a year--What was I thinking! I really do like it and have started the first few blocks...so I am officially only five (soon to be six) months behind. YIKES!

I fell in love with this.  Standing in the vendor's booth, I was transfixed by this modern table runner. I have plans to modify it into a large quilt, and have been working on it a bit since I got home. So far I'm pleased with the results. I'll post more when there is something to show.

A friend of mine, Rosemary Keblusek, had her quilt shown at Paducah! 
Congratulations Rosemary.

And then there was The Ricky Tims Show!
Wow--what a fun surprise! We had no idea what to expect but it ended up being entertaining, inspirational, and fantastic! I'm now a HUGE fan of Ricky's--Wow, is he ever creative!

And Finally, as I often say, it's all about the hair.
I have been growing my hair out for over a year. Images of long-flowing, bright-white hair crowded my creative mind. A child of the sixties...I would let my 'old lady' freak-flag fly! I would be able to style my hair into a fabulous up-do, pull it into a ponytail, or simply wear it straight. Well, after a year-plus of struggling through ugly-staged hair, I was nowhere near any of those stylish scenarios of which I dreamed.
Enter Paducah.
I saw so many wonderful hair styles on white haired quilters that I decided then and there to go short again! Before we left Paducah on Saturday I called my stylist and made an appointment for Tuesday.
Flipping through photos on my phone Louise and I decided to do a 'medium' cut. At first I liked it but after almost a month I'm ready to go shorter still.

Here is my hair diary for those that might be interested for some strange reason:

Here I am with Kat. UGH, look at my hair...I need HELP!

A cute cut, but the addition of color is soooo me.

Now we're talkin'. This is an updated version of how I used to wear my hair for years.

This is just plain cute, but not sure it would translate onto this old body!

And here's an unflattering selfie after my haircut back from Paducah.

 What will tomorrow bring at the salon?

Okay, enough with the self-serving hair phobia stories...Here are just a few of the Quilty beauties from Paducah. Note: Photos were not allowed in the Quilt Museum.

Excuse the length of this post. I had a lot to say/show about my first Paducah experience and I can see where it will easily take months before the glow wears off.
I hope you've enjoyed my random musings from my first visit to Quilt Week!