After hearing about it for years, I was thrilled to be able to visit the city of Paducah during the quilt show. It is a very charming town and I was able to visit the National Quilt Museum and see the current display of quilts, including a wooden carved quilt by Fraser Smith which was absolutely amazing! I had heard about the wooden quilt but when I walked into the room and I only saw a quilt hanging on the wall I kept looking for the “wooden” quilt. Then I realized that the “quilt” on the wall was the one that was carved out of wood. It is very realistic looking, even close up.

I arrived in Paducah and I planned on demonstrating my cutting and sewing techniques for a full six days. On the second day my voice was very low and scratchy. It took a lot of effort to talk and I think that the people were afraid of me, least I be contagious.

By Wednesday I had no voice left. None. Zip. Nodda. A full blown case of laryngitis.

I took every remedy, herb and potion I could find and prayed for a quick healing but my voice was not coming back.

I had traveled 1500 miles for this show and now I couldn’t speak. I was more than a little bit frustrated.

Then we found Becky. Becky became my voice. Becky was unfamiliar with my product so I wrote notes that she tried to repeat as I silently went through the motions of my demonstration. I am sure it seemed more than a little bit crazy. Becky gave it her all and did a great job. Thanks Becky!

Here I am standing behind the demonstration table with Becky.

This is Brenda. Brenda is the owner of Murray’s Sewing Center. She was a good sport about having this crazy lady from Montana who couldn’t even talk.

When it rains it pours and it did both on Saturday, the last day of the show. It kept most of the people away. I am not sure where they were but they didn’t show up to see my silent demonstration.
So I did what any warm blooded quilter would do – I went shopping. I was able to see a few of the other vendor booths in the big tent that was set up. I did not get a chance to see all of the beautiful quilts because I was tired. Not talking for days on end can wear a person out.

Here are some of the ladies hanging out during a quiet moment. Lori is on the right, I stayed at her house for a few days and with Ann for my first two nights. It was nice meeting everybody even if I couldn’t talk to them very much.

Then on my return to the airport I had more misfortune come my way.
A semi truck threw something, I still don’t know what it was. But when you are going 70 miles per hour you are not supposed to swerve, so grabbed the wheel and said a polite word as I ran over it. The end result was that I was stranded on the highway, in the dark, with cars zipping by me and two flat tires. Apparently another car had hit it before me and they were stranded also and they had a lot more damage than me. Her rim was badly bent and her tires shredded. We were eventually towed to the nearest town to spend the night.

Small towns in the middle of nowhere are not know for having places open on Sunday or for having all of the things needed to fix a stranded motorist’s car. One tire was able to be fixed but the other could not be fixed. After many calls to my insurance company and the rental car company, I was towed again to another town. No spare tire was provided in the rental car so I argued with the rental company, saying that they should pay for the second towing because if I had a spare tire I could drive the car. They informed me that they provide an air pump and so no payment for towing would be provided. Moral of this story is check for a spare tire when you rent a car.

I was still a long way from the airport so I had to pay a taxi cab guy to drive me. I can’t even repeat the amount I had to pay him. It was literally highway robbery. But I had no car and my flight was leaving so I didn’t see that I had much choice.

I was so happy (and tired) when I arrived home to my beloved Montana. As we came in for a landing the sun was setting and it was so beautiful to see the horizon in the fading sunlight. I was so thankful to see my husband. Thankful that nobody was hurt during my little episode, thankful that I had cell phone coverage and was able to get a tow truck. Thankful that my voice was mostly back.
And I am sure that cab driver is thankful that he got a job that paid him enough money to keep him in groceries for half a month.

Elisa