BY THE NUMBERS, HANCOCK'S OF PADUCAH (Cheri)

Many people think of quilters as a small number of little old ladies.  I like to dispel that misconception.

Image Source:  www.TildasWorld.com

Mark and I are in Paducah, Kentucky this week.  I'll be attending the American Quilter's Society show; Mark will see the quilts but will be traveling the area most of the time.

Paducah has a population of just over 27,000 people . . . until Quilt Week.  32,000 people are expected to attend the show this year.  Not only will the attendees be seeing the quilts, but they will be spending (lots of) money with hundreds of vendors, and seeing other artistry throughout this UNESCO-designated "Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art."

I spent this morning at Hancock's of Paducah, which has capitalized on its location and developed a huge online presence.  I was here about 20 years ago, and it was even bigger than I remembered:  60,000 square feet of fabric!

The size of the store essentially makes taking representative pictures impossible, but here is one, across a large portion of the main building:

I calculated that there were about 3,500-4,000 bolts of batiks on the cutting floor, and 1,200 bolts of solid fabrics.  There are about 20 cutting tables.  Here is a link to a map of the store.

This shelving unit holds just 2.5" pre-cut strip sets, and there are nine others just like it:

This is a table dedicated to solid black fabric milled by Kona brands:

So why the beautiful picture at the top of this post?  That's a pattern that is provided free by fabric designer Tone Finnanger ("Tilda") as an incentive to buy solid fabrics by the company that prints her designs.

I've started collecting the 46 different solids that are required to make it, but wouldn't you know it . . . I didn't have time to make a list of what I still need before leaving for this trip.

If you can make it to Hancock's of Paducah, go!  And if you do go, read this blogger's excellent post with many suggestions on making the most of your trip.