Norma Tilford and Judy Bean’s friendship has spanned four decades and several art mediums, including quilting. With Paducah – known as Quilt City USA – in their backyard, the two thought the setting would be a great space to further their desire to share their love of the fiber art with other enthusiasts and build a community of quilters.
What started last year as an idea to get a small group together a few times quickly morphed into a nearly monthly event that brings together people from coast to coast. Now, the Paducah Quilt Retreat gives fiber arts hobbyists around the region an opportunity to work on projects that may have fallen by the wayside, and to bond over their shared love of quilting.
Tilford and Bean have been friends for more than 40 years, first meeting when their daughters played sports together. Throughout the decades, the two have practiced different arts – including quilting – sharing a creative bond with each other.
After retirement, the two were able to dedicate more time to quilting – a passion that took the western Kentucky residents to a quilting retreat six hours away in Canton, Georgia.
“We had so much fun and got a lot of things accomplished. So [on] the six hour drive home, we were talking [and thought], ‘Why isn’t there a quilt retreat in Quilt City?’” Tilford said.
Home of the National Quilt Museum and the annual American Quilter’s Society QuiltWeek, Paducah – which is also a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art – has earned a reputation as a hotbed for quilters. Bean and Tilford said this made Paducah an ideal destination to host a gathering of quilting enthusiasts.
The Paducah Quilt Retreat brings together a group of individuals who all have a passion for quilting, even if their methods are different. Some use Singer Featherweight machines – a model manufactured in the mid-20th century that remains popular among current quilters. Others use newer, high-tech machines, and some go back to the basics and sew by hand.
Each quilter brings their own supplies, but – thanks to setup work from Tilford’s and Bean’s husbands – there are stations ready for them when they arrive. Soon after, those workspaces become adorned with personal touches as the artists break out their supplies and assortments of fabrics and threads, bringing pops of color into the hotel conference room repurposed each retreat to serve as a quilter’s haven.
Talks of new projects to try and “UFOs ” – what the quilters call unfinished objects – bounce off the walls of the room. The tables are covered with works-in-progress, and steam slowly fills the space as the quilters work over ironing boards pressing out wrinkles from their fabrics. Talking, oohs and ahhs, laughter and the hum of machines running adds to the creative atmosphere. Many of the quilters were set up at work stations next to friends and acquaintances, but some were paired by other attendees who used similar techniques to them.
While quilting is the focus, many of the guests try out new sewing methods and techniques that they pick up from fellow attendees.
“Everyone walks around to see what everyone else is doing, you know. And they have an appreciation for different things and learning,” Tilford said.
While Tilford and Bean said most quilt retreats are more rigid, with set projects and schedules, the Paducah Quilt Retreat opts for a more free-form approach. They call their method “open-quilting,” which means the attendees get to work on their own pieces.
“They've got projects that they never finished, but they're going to get around to it. This retreat is open sew, and they bring those projects and they work on what project they want to work on,” Bean said.
A dozen women came together for the inaugural retreat in November 2023. So far, the Paducah Quilt Retreat has hosted nine events, and has eight more planned for 2025. Each retreat is capped at 22 attendees, and the pair said they haven’t had trouble filling the spots.
“We don’t really have to advertise anymore, because of word of mouth [from former attendees],” Tilford said.
In fact, in the program’s first year, there’s already been several repeat attendees.
“One lady came to this retreat by herself…but now she’s called some friends and she’s already booked three more retreats with friends.” Bean said.
A year after the first retreat, the bonds built can be easily seen. Quilters come and go as they please and get inspiration from each other. They praise each other's work and techniques constantly, and many are heard reminiscing over past retreats. Every time someone completes a project, they get to ring a cowbell – a sound followed by a chorus of cheers. After dinner they play games with their newfound friends.
“The laughter, I mean, you can hear us all over the hotel,” Tilford laughs. “It’s a lot of fun, it really is.”
“Quilters,” Bean adds, “they're just a fantastic bunch of people.”
