Phyl and I went to high school in Ankara, Turkey, and though we've never lived anywhere near each other since graduating from high school, we have always stayed in touch, and gotten together periodically over the 50+ years since high school. No matter how many years pass between our reunions, we are always able to pick right up, as though we'd never been apart. It's the gift of a life-long friendship.
So, I flew into Louisville, and a day later, Phyllis and I hit the road down to Paducah. It was about a four hour drive, mostly down the Western Kentucky Parkway. Springtime in Kentucky is stunningly beautiful. We talked and laughed as we drove past miles of rolling green hills, deciduous forests, red bud and dogwood trees in bloom, and fields of yellow golden rod. Beautiful.
Phyllis, a retired school principal, and college professor, is also an accomplished painter. Both of us were inspired and encourage to make art by our high school art teacher, Miss Cosper. In a thousand ways she showed that making and appreciating art was for everybody--even a couple of sergeants' daughters. So it seemed only fitting that a "Flat Stanley" style Miss Cosper accompany us on the trip to Paducah. We thought of contacting Miss Cosper to let her know of her lasting influence on us, but doing the math, we figure she'd be over a hundred and probably no longer painting among us. Why didn't we think of contacting her years ago???
The night before leaving Phyllis's house for Paducah I got an email from The American Quilter's Society saying I'd won a prize. They didn't say what the prize was--I had to go to the award ceremony to find that out. I was over the moon to just get into the Paducah show in the first place. I certainly never expected to win a prize. Whew. Be still my heart.
So Tuesday night, before the main hoopla of the quilt show, Phyl and I went to the awards ceremony. I assumed I had won an honorable mention at best. We sat through the awarding of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards in 16 categories. As the table was emptying of trophies, I became quite convinced that I'd been inadvertently left off the honorable mention group which was announced at the start of the awards event without much fanfare.
But then Victoria Findlay Wolfe, the MC for the event, announce my name. Yowser. I'd won an award with a very long name: The Brother Corporation's Best Wall Stationary Machine Workmanship Award. It came with an engraved crystal vase, which was pretty cool, and a check for $3000, which was way cool! Phyllis tried to take my picture as I went on stage to get my award, but apparently I ran up, grabbed my award and dashed off. It's all a blur to me.
The next day, Phyllis and I went to the show itself. Paducah is off the beaten trail for sure, but for any artist or quilter, it's well worth the trip to see this exhibit. Phyllis had only seen traditional state-fair type quilts, and was pretty amazed by the artistry and workmanship on display in Paducah.
Though it didn't win best in show, our favorite quilt was Ruby Wedding Anniversary by Harumi Asada Higashiura, pictured below. It had everything--piecing, applique, surface embellishment, hand stitching, free-motion quilting, tons of detail and stunning colors. It looked a hundred times better than this photo suggests.
Going to Paducah, and winning a prize was great, but sharing the whole experience with Phyllis was pure joy. She's the sister I never had. I could never have imagined all those years ago when we were smoking cigarettes in the girls' room that we'd still be dear friends all these years later. I don't know if I'll ever have another quilt make it to Paducah, but I do know Phyllis and I plan to have many more adventures.
