Kaffe Fassett in Paducah

I am sure the real reason for this spur-of-the-moment trip to Paducah was because Kaffe Fassett was going to be there. DeLuna has been a serious admirer of his for many, many years going all the way back to his needlepoint days of the "Glorious Color" books.
As Bonnie Browning commented on yesterday's post, Kaffe rhyms with safe, and his last name is FASS-ett. For years many of his fans tried turning him into a cup of "caffee", but we should all be caught up by now!
An American who has lived in England for the last 45 years (with no detectable accent change) he lives for color. Take a look at any of his books and room designs to be WOWed!
We were too late to sign up for either class, and the AQS lectures were sold out (being in a much smaller space this year).
But we did go to his evening lecture at the Carson Four Rivers Center :

 It was such a treat to hear Kaffe talk while his quilts were projected onto the big screen. This a man who is not afraid of color! He wore a tastful purple shirt with purple jeans, too. 

This has to the most beautiful performing arts center I have ever been in, and that includes some cathedrals. I cannot believe I had never been in here before! This is where the awards presentations are made on Tuesday night before the show opens. From now on, I would say that is a "must-see" event!
I usually don't take these kinds of pictures, but I knew you would want to see the Ladies Room:

My mouth dropped open when I walked in here. It's too new to have ghosts, but if it did, they'd be elegant ladies in 1930's bias cut satin evening gowns!

A photo can never do justice to the fine materials used here.
I really hope the flash didn't scare the only other lady who was present!

Please go see the lobby...my camera was not up to it's magnificent chandeliers, curving staircases and tributes to Kentucky!

Meanwhile, back at the show...
in the big white Pavilion there was an exhibit of Kaffe's quilts, You could get up close and personal with them:

This is my favorite because there is so much stuff going on in it. He tends to use simple shapes and let the fabulous fabric do the real work.
 It also shows a bit of restarint in color usage, Kaffe-style!

This is my other favorite of the 8 or so quilts on display. Big print fabric takes the cake! Or bicycle wheels, in this case.  Oh, my...I can't decide if the background or the border is more wonderful!

Like mounting a high-level battle plan, DeLuna & I went to the Kaffe & Liza Prior Lucy (his quilting partner) autograph session. The goal was to not spend hours in line.

We arrived early, and while DeLuna got in line, I sat on one of the benches with all our bags. I also had a nice chat with Louise from Califonia...you can start up a conversation with just about anyone at a quilt show. That's another reason for loving this show. I have talked with people from Japan, Australia, all over Europe and many of the United States.

DeLuna does NOT appear in the photo above, by the way. I have no idea who that lady is, but she looks a little bit like my sister!

I thought DeLuna had a good idea. Instead of having Kaffe and Liza just sign the inside book cover, she had them sign the picture of her favorite quilt!

To honor this Kaffe indulgence (and believe me, every booth possible had tons of his fabrics, which we had to go through!) I purchased a "jelly roll"...my very first one!

Hancock's had a super deal on them.

And that you shall see when I get around to posting about Eating & Shopping.

But first...

What does Paducah really look like?