the papa gallery

Special Event – a salute to paducah’s quilters

🪡 Special Quilt Exhibit
“Variations on a Theme of Old Blue Jeans” by Suzanne Alexander

👜 Quilted Bags 
designed and finely crafted by Vickie Lee Gingrich

🎨 A Collection of Miniature Paintings by PAPA Artists
Inspired by quilting, stitching, and the things we love about Paducah.

Variations on a Theme of Old Blue Jeans

Meet
Suzanne Alexander

Lover of textiles and maker of
quilted things

 Suzanne Alexander’s affinity for quilting comes through deep roots. Women in her family made quilts for generations until the need for quilt making began to abate. As a little girl, she observed both her grandmothers’ prolific handiwork. She remembers being small enough to get shooed out from under the quilting frame and later poring through their needlework catalogs as a young teen. Her mother also sewed most of the clothes for her and three sisters including countless Barbie doll dresses and even Suzanne’s wedding dress. Always drawn to textiles, it was not until she retired that she could really get into the hobby she’d tried for years to find time to do.

The art part of Suzanne’s journey has also come along incrementally. Her husband Charles is a painter and their affiliation with other painters at the PAPA Gallery began to rub off on her. Thoroughly enjoying her textile journey,
Suzanne finds creative ideas everywhere. She’s also learned that when she finishes a quilt, the person it needs to live with will come along at the right time.

At this point of her life, she now cares for some of the historical family quilts reaching back at least 3 generations. She is the only one in this generation carrying on the quilting tradition, but as she adds to the collection of comfort
textiles, she has hope she may not be the last.

Bags by Vickie Lee Gingrich

In addition to doing beautiful paintings, Vickie Lee Gingrich also does beautiful quilting. PAPA Artists are especially fond of her artist tote bags, as they are extremely useful for transporting paintings! She makes bags of all shapes and sizes and accepts commissions for custom bags. Each bag is unique, sturdy, and finely stitched!

If you are interested in owning a custom-quilted bag, send us an Email and we’ll pass it on! Vickie will contact you at her earliest convenience. Include your name and phone number in your message to thepapagallerywebsite@gmail.com