Quilting and the Churches of Kraków

May 25, 2025August 17, 2025 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

Traveling is a blitz on the senses, a clearing of the mind, and making connections that are new or novel. I’m always making quilting connections when I travel, I suppose you are too: new patterns, repetitive designs that could be a quilt are not uncommon on our Instagram feeds or in quilt shows.

If you are new here — and welcome — I often take a small diversion from the *making* to the ideas that propel our quilts. This is one of those posts, and it centers around the creativity shown by a group of Polish parishes during the Communist years in this country. And actually, they are all over the country of Poland, not just in Kraków.

I wrote about the church in Warsaw, our first one to see, and believe me — now that I am home — I vow that if I ever go back to that lovely country my husband and I will rent a car and go see more. They are so different that the usual gothic and decorative churches that we tourists usually go to. (I do like some of these and will show a couple more in this post.) I first found out about what’s known as the Day-VII Churches during the usual pre-trip fatigue: searching for what to see in a given city, I typed in “churches in Kraków” and saw a photo of this church:

Our Lady of Częstochowa Parish, Kraków – Poland

Whoa. All those triangles, the different angles, the airiness — some architect had been incredibly creative in making this. I found out that there were about 3600 churches with similar heritage. The man who hunted down and gathered all these — Kuba Snopek — also worked with Izabela Cichońska and Karolina Popera; together they compiled a catalogue, which I ordered and read. I watched his Powerpoint presentation. I hunted and searched and read and soon realized that I was limited by my time in Poland and had to choose what we would go see. Sometimes there was information and in English, and other times there was not.

Interior, Our Lady of Częstochowa (Some video of the interior)

A lot of these churches were impacted by the changes of Vatican II. In reading about this preciously unknown subject, I learned a lot about how the desire to have the priests more in front of the congregation and to include the participants in the worship experience, changed how the architects designed the churches. Communication with the Vatican was spotty, at best, during the early years after the war, so some parishes/architects turned to the ideas found in theater construction; broad expanses became more common instead of the more traditional narrow nave and side aisles.

(looking toward the rear of church, with hexagon windows)

While we did go to these on a Sunday, we worked to not take photos during their services, with only a couple of exceptions. However, there were many photographers around that day, as it was a celebration of First Communion for a whole group of young people, and the joy and celebration was palpable and only added to the experience we had.

(zoom-in of hexies and organ)

Often when I see a new quilt design, I’m asking How did they do that? Why are the colors distributed that way? Why were those colors used? and finally, Can I replicate this?

I was already working on hexies on our train and airplane rides, so I was familiar with this element, certainly.

But what prompted the architect to insert them where they were? Was the lack of materials the reason for subdividing all those larger triangle windows? I knew that many of these churches were made from whatever was available, and sometimes the parishioners themselves were working at night by the lights of car headlights, using their own small concrete mixers to help pour the larger structural elements.

from here. This church has a nickname of the White Batman, which we did not get to see. Be sure to link over to see the construction photos, all very rudimentary, with lots of scaffolding since there were no cranes (which couldn’t be obtained at that time).

Do we arrange designs by the amount of fabric we have? All.The.Time. I found myself thinking about the nature of making, of design. Do our construction techniques vary according to the design we have in mind? Yes.

However, mostly I was in awe.

Another church, close by, was built in a giant housing project, nestled beside buildings, as were many churches. Imposing in stature, they nonetheless adapted to the area they were in.

The entry is behind that square stone wall. We arrived about 10 minutes before their services started. I had done my research, but somehow open hours were hard to find, but I knew from my own experience that Sunday was probably a good day to visit a church.

The full name of this church is Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland, Kraków, but they call it Arka Pana, and it is in the Nowa Huta section of the city. The outside is clad in small rocks, and St. John Paul II, who had been given a moon rock, donated it to the church (although I think it is not embedded in this concrete).

(upper balcony) We left just as the service started, and went outside:

I wrote this on Instagram:
Our Lady Queen of Poland Church, also known as Arka Pana, is in Kraków, Poland and is one of the Day-VII churches. They are a group of churches built from 1945 to approximately 1990 in Poland, and they are mostly modern in style, built by the Catholic parishes themselves, with different architects. This church was about 30 minutes away from the touristy center, and we walked through a huge Communist housing block to reach the church. It was well worth the effort. We snapped a few shots before Mass began, and only after seeing all the rest of the congregation snapping photos (it was First Communion Day) did we sneak a few more. We then slipped outside to admire this church, reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s Notre Dame du Haut in France.

Now for the more traditional inspiration, the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s more modern –haha– as compared to some of the other churches in the area. I learned that:

The church, among the first tall brick-and-sandstone built in Krakow, was originally consecrated in the 13th century. Hundreds of years, later, St. Francis’ Basilica found itself in the center of a very different city. Krakow became the center of the “Young Poland” art movement between 1890 and 1918, a modernist style that became known for its art nouveau style. One of the founders of the movement, Stanisław Wyspiański, won a contest to repaint the church and turned it into what is still the most original church design in Poland today. (from here)

It’s that design by Wyspiański which engaged me:

Parts of these images remind me of the economy blocks I’m currently working on.

It’s not exactly the same, but a suggestion.

Yep. I collected pattern and image and ideas and great ideas to fold into quilts in the next little while.

a Wyspiański window; I loved all his wall paintings of flowers!

Our trip tag on Instagram is #poland_prague2025 if you want to see more of our trip.

And because you’ve been so patient in exploring these ideas, I worked up a small idea from the blocks in St. Mary’s Basilica. Below is an illustration of the pattern and a mock-up of colors. Link to quilt pattern is here.

Obviously, I drew color inspiration from the windows of Arka Pana and Stanisław Wyspiański!

(back of catalogue)

Also from the Basilica of St. Mary in Kraków’s main square. I love seeing depictions of the Annunciation.

EPP · Quilts · Travels

Catching Up, Keeping Myself Honest

May 11, 2025May 6, 2025 Elizabeth E.7 Comments

You could skip this post like you might want have to skipped Weight Watchers checkins back in the day…it’s a post that charts progress, keeps me honest and helps me admit my defeats as well as my successes. I watched a well-known recipe developer on Instagram bake her own wedding cakes last week, and I was like…I think I need to go and lie down for a while. It all looked amazing, and I wish I knew her personally so I could taste all her layers and fillings and crumbles.

Is making a quilt like that? We have layers and pieces and threads and in the end, we put a binding on it and call it a quilt? Those who aren’t quilters are amazed, but we just smile and pick the threads off our sweaters.

One of the Important Things is to get your machine serviced once a year.

So I drove out to a neighboring city, and dropped off my machine which caused me some grief (it’s how much?).

To recover, I went across the street, where the delightful ladies of this shop made me feel welcomed. They are in the process of moving, and I look forward to their Grand Opening in June, in a new location. With better parking.

The strawberry quilt was in their back room. Some red, white, and blue fabrics came home with me, and then I popped them in a mailer and sent them to my daughter who is making lots of small, very cute flags. That link will take you to some Stories, and I really like what she says in the last one, that sometimes we have to do a lateral move to keep the creativity flowing. Truth.

Yes, it cracks me up that she still has the wrapping on her ruler, but if that’s how she rolls, I’m happy. She confessed on another story that she purchased some fabric and then her eyes got really wide and she said, “Fabric’s a mood right now!” Translation: It’s expensive. (I’m loving this.)

Mary, of Zippy Quilts commented on her Tony’s Chocoloney Bar. Here’s ours. We buy it at Whole Foods, when we go there (rarely), sometimes Sprouts. Sometimes Walmart, but check the expiration date. We chunk it up and keep it in a covered container for an after-dinner treat.

Sherri dropped her free BOM block for May. I’m using an old line of her fabrics, but I love them, so I’m happy.

Here are the first five. They are giant blocks, like 18″ big.

A new Molly arrived…on her Vespa. The price has jumped about 20% in case you were wondering what girls-on-Vespas-from-China cost now that we are having a tariff fight. I’m sadder about the chaos, the destruction, the cruelty — why NPR? Why PBS? According to a poll about the bias in news sources, they come down just about in the middle of the range from right to left. And why the National Parks? Why are they savaging the science funding? The arts funding (including the Quilt Index)? Have we lost our minds? (Yes.)

I fear for my grandchildren’s world.

(a childhood book)

Starting on this to keep my mind off the news. It’s my New York Beauties quilt.

If you are on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve seen that I’m on a trip in another city, so yes, I did all this before I left. I’ll be home soon. No I didn’t visit EnergyLandia, but I’d like to bottle what they have and bring it home. My brain is most likely overloaded with new sights, new sounds, and all the quilt projects are waiting for me back home.

Well, all but one.

I read this one post on Bluesky where a quilter she said she would just stumble around until she figured out what direction she was going in, and boy did that resonate. I started sewing hexies because I was on a car trip; yes, that’s the whole reason. But this week, I stumbled into the next idea, and what colors I want to use.

I cut some squares a bit bigger than my hexies. I’m using Painter’s Palette solids in lighter colors. Then I creased the fabric square lightly to get them centered, put a small appliqué pin in the center to hold it, and stacked them up.

I cut a manila paper folder to size, as I have to be able to transport them and use this set-up in a small space, like a seat-back table on an airplane or a train. The mini-folder fits right into that blue bag. I’m taking this for a hand-work project on trains and planes, and to help me keep my sanity when everything I own is in two small bags and I’m trying to shove in more. (I modified this idea from Becky Goldsmith, who uses a slightly different folder set-up to transport her pieces for appliqué. She explains it thoroughly in this video or more simply in this post.)

Just so you know it’s me, here’s what I went through to cut hexies to sew:

I exploded my scrap basket, but in the last photo — having gone through it all — I stowed it all nicely back in the bottom drawer where I keep my scraps. I’m cutting one last yellow, below (and no, I’m not taking the tin box — too bulky for overseas travel):

See you in a bit–

If you are in the States — Happy Mother’s Day!

Totes and Purses · Travels

Sewing in Translation

March 29, 2025April 3, 2025 Elizabeth E.11 Comments

You know when I stood in the shopping area of Carrefour Quilt Show last September (2024), I wanted to buy up all the fabrics and patterns and everything, but alas my suitcase was small, so I had to limit myself. One of the choices was a series of small pouches from ABCDaires, with a soft velvety fabric with absolutely charming printed designs. I tend to buy something that I won’t see in the States, and this fit the ticket. I bought three: two kits and one that just had the printed fabric.

(taken with permission)

There is a front and a back to each pouch with different designs. One kit was pink with a girl in flowers on the front, and then just the flowers on the back. The colors were rich and saturated, so I was hooked.

However…Note to future self: Just.Buy.The.Kit. For the un-kit purchase, I luckily had a zipper that was a perfect match. However, the zippers in the kit were just a bit heavier duty, plus she included the lining, a waxed lightweight canvas.

But how can I sew it if it is in another language? you ask. Google Translate to the rescue. Let’s start with their website, ABCDaires:

I have the Google Translate in my browser, so I just click on the little icon in the upper right of the search bar; in some reading I did it suggested that now you have to use Chrome as your browser to get that. (I don’t know–do some searching online.) Or you can head to Google Translate and paste in the URL of the page you want to see in English:

This is Google Translate (above). Click on the Websites box, paste in your URL and it should translate most of the language for you.

Now the website is all in English, and you can click around to purchase the little kit you want. Yes, you will still have to convert the metric measurements while sewing. I have a small ruler that I use for just this.

She was very helpful and just lovely and spoke English! They also have a downloadable PDF of instructions on their website. I’ll talk about that in a minute.

This is the smallest of the three I purchased. You can see the little ruler I use that has cm and mm marked on it. The first thing you do it mark off small squares in the corners, but she has two different measurement options. This was the first wrinkle in the translation business. Which one? I tried using my Google Translate on my iPhone. You open up the app, choose PHOTO and hold it over the paragraph:

After a second or two, all the French is in English (I chose the language, but you could choose any). I learned a “coupon” is a “pouch” or maybe “fabric” or not (it’s not always perfect). So I went to the section about the corners, but alas, still couldn’t figure it out. I then went to math, something we quilters are good at. If the fabric measured X by X then I used the larger dimension, and if it was a different X by X, I would use the smaller. I measured the printed fabric, which gave me my answer. (I’m using “X” so I don’t give away her pattern.) I’m just saying, don’t be frustrated, but try another angle to solve your translation difficulty. Onward.

Ends go on the zipper, zipper gets sewn to the fabric…a usual sequence of steps for a pouch.

Since this is a velvet minky, I didn’t want to put a hot iron on it and scorch it, so I found my roller came in handy for flattening the seams. On the pink pouch, I opted to topstitch down the fabric with the zipper (she gives two options). I won’t do that again — in a minute I’ll show you why. [Of course it could be that I’m a dweeb at sewing pouches, and the results have everything to do with that.]

In the first photo, the designer fabric is shown smoothed away to the left, away from the stitching going on on the lining/zipper tape. As usual, when your presser foot approaches the zipper pull, leave the needle in the fabric, raise the presser foot slightly, and move it to the back where you’ve already stitched. This will eliminate bumps in the stitching line.

First one done! She has a clever way to put in the velvet ribbon so it becomes a nice zipper pull on a traditional zipper.

Here we go again. I used a bit of fabric from the stash for the zipper ends. I chose a spotty lining fabric (in upper right corner).

Done! The second one went so much faster, and I only top-stitched on the zipper, not the top designer fabric.

Back designs on both.

Notice how wonky the zipper ending is on the pink? I mean, it’s functional, but not as lovely as the blue zipper. I chalk it up to how the top-stitching impeded the inner seam. (I need to find a cute ribbon for the blue bag.)

UPDATE: I’ve since sewn the last blue pouch, and now I think it was the coated lining fabric “zipper ends” that gave me so much trouble. The fabric “end,” shown above, was much easier to manipulate. So maybe, if you make these, find a coordinating fabric, rather than use the coated fabrics.

I love how the bag color blends into a second color for the base.

Baby Molly and St. Patrick Day Girl posing with the pink bag. (You know I have to put Molly in here somewhere.)

Now, a caveat. This was an easy translation task, relatively. The company had an English download for the instructions, and I already had the Google Translate installed in my browser. I was also familiar with how the iPhone’s Google Translate worked too, having tried it out on an earlier trip to Japan, where I found out that my breakfast roll was made with the “breath of heaven.” (Okay, so it doesn’t always work so well with idioms, but I took that to mean it had flour in it.) The app has improved greatly since then, I assume because of a a positive use of AI in our lives.

I struggled more on this project, made from a book I’d purchased at Carrefours and also published in French. The trip-up came because it was a JAPANESE bag, translated into French:

I did use a lot of “how to sew Japanese bags” searches on the internet, with questions like “Do I trace the pattern off the pattern sheet in the back of the book?” (yes) and “Are seam allowances included?” (no). This required a huge MIND shift, and aside from sewing the bottom to the top edge of the bag, I made it. (That’s why it looks upside down, ahem.) I did a lot of improvising, but I also love it, too.

I guess what I want to say is that it is a big world of quilting out there and we can always stand to have our horizons enlarged and widened, helping us to bridge all the acrimony and bitterness that can sometimes be found around us. I am in minor grief just about every day with the parts of what I once held dear being taken apart and sold for dross. So I’ve stepped up and purchased another subscription to a news organization, donated to three different local public broadcast stations, apologized to my Canadian friend Kaylie for who I’ve made two baby quilts, apologized to some scientists I know who won’t get funding for their research saving crops from pests (I do like to eat). I guess I’ll soon be apologizing soon to Greenland, too. And Mexico. And Europe, where I’ll be this year — I hope they let me in. I hope America lets me back in, and lets me have my phone after going through customs. I remember traveling in Italy when Hilary Clinton was running for President and the taxi driver went on and on about how her opponent was like Berlusconi, a real rat, he said. I assured him that she would win. Haha, spoke too soon.

I guess I just want to say that make friends with our international neighbors, sew their projects, buy American products (so they can survive the boycotts from other nations), but mostly just sew. I could go on and on, but I have many friends who are very happy right now, and I love them too. Mostly I just try to translate my complicated feelings and make the results come out with a bit of peace, a bit of kindness and a lot of forbearance.

Sort of like sewing with beautiful fabrics from a lovely French shopkeeper–

Update: I had some questions about what kind of fabric this was. After reading this post, I’d say it hews closer to a product similar to Celosia Velvet, as the back is very sturdy and is not stretchy, nor drapable.

European Patchwork Meeting · Quilt Shows · Travels

Carrefour 2024: Quilts IV

October 25, 2024August 30, 2025 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

This post is about two different places in the 29th Carrefour European Patchwork Show:

Espace D’Exposition (Venue 11): Quilt en rêve (remakes of antique quilts), France Aubert (Passion for Samplers), Selma Huisman-Hilderbrand (Walk Down Memory Lane)
Église St. Blaise (Venue 7): Virginie Peyre

Hope you are all still with me, with seeing quilts from all over quilt land, but mostly from the European guilds.

All posts in order are on the European Patchwork (Carrefour) page.

In Venue 11 (Espace Commercial) there was enough room to do several exhibits. This quilt is from Quilt en rêve, “an association of British, Dutch and American antique quilt enthusiasts. Some of them have been quilting for over 30 years, always conscious of working in a traditional way, paying attention to detail, the choice of fabric and hand sewing” (from here). (UPDATE: I heard from one of the members, Gabrielle Paquin, and she wrote that currently “the team is essentially French and we have an Hollander lady with us.”)

Michigan, a quilt by Martine Crabé-Lanux (from France), who was inspired by a quilt from the 1850s. The center is a sailor’s compass, with other details of soldiers carrying flags and Masonic symbols. The quilter designed the floral border and other details.

Aline Joulin, from France, was inspired by an 1880’s log cabin from Connecticut and named it Noyank. These more than 500 small blocks are made on muslin, and the placement of the red “lends a balance to the whole. The quilt is knotted.”

While the maker and the Instagram of Quilt en rêve calls this “Wedding Rings in Blue,” in America we typically call this Pickle Dish (Brackman numbers 304 and 305).
Made by Gabrielle Paquin (France), this is entirely made by hand.

Kiosque, by Jacqueline Audouin-Dubreuil (France). She made this boutis quilt entirely by hand, 10 stitches per centimeter, 600 meters of thread, taking approximately 2000 hours of work. The base cloth is a teal blue, and the design is by Hubert Valéri. Click any photo in the gallery to enlarge.

Helma Huisman-Hildebrand, from Holland, also had her own exhibit. She “works and lives on a cargo ship which operates on the rivers and channels throughout Europe. Together with her husband, they operate as captains on their ship and run their shipping company. In her spare time, she loves to make antique looking quilts, from the 1830s to the early 1900s. Due to a lack of space, she works in her kitchen on the ship. She constructs the quilts by machine, given her limited amount of time, yet hand-quilts them” (from the catalogue).

The quilt above is titled Forever Touching Stars: “I was ‘star-strucked’ seeing this quilt in Nel Kooiman’s collection, and luckily she gave me permission to remake it. The original quilt was made around 1880 in Kentucky.” (from title card)

Here is a gallery of her quilts, with title cards and some details shots. They are all magnificent! (Click on the arrows in the middle on the sides, to advance the slides.)

France Albert, shown above by one of her quilts, has a passion for samplers, so they put a grouping of her work in the show. That is not all she can do, but see that color of her sweater? She calls it “duck blue” and it’s her favorite. So many of her quilts are hand-pieced and hand-quilted. Here are two galleries (click to enlarge any quilt).

(from top to bottom, left to right):

Row 1: Suzanna, Karen B (an homage to Karen Blixen in combining sampler blocks in the color blue-gray for Denmark)

Row 2: Rose (sixteen traditional square blocks redesigned as rectangular blocks), Welcome (a small sampler created to represent their move to the Ille de France region), Maisons & Jardins (Houses and Gardens)

Row 3: Henrietta (thirteen blocks from the “Antebellum” block of the month from Barbara Brackman, along with twelve additional appliqué blocks.)

(from top to bottom, left to right):

Row 1: Juliette (a tribute to her grandmother, with rectangular blocks, 113 mother-of-pearl buttons, and the use of the color violet, the color of feminism)

Row 2: Moutarde (she had to hunt for fabrics, using 26 of them in the end), Toiles Plumetées Automne (feathered star in autumn colors), and her handwork, resting on the top of her chair at her table.

Row 3: Nora (quilting done by Mom Quilts; this is a reproduction of an antique quilt from Virginia in the 1840s). What I noticed was even though the quilting was done by a long-armer, she went in and hand-stitched around each circle.

She had a card up at the beginning of the exhibit. Thank you, Google Translate, for letting me know what it said.

Note the use of her buttons along the outside binding.

This is known as the King George Reviewing the Volunteers quilt, housed in the V & A Museum in London. It was the inspiration for two of her other quilts (shown below). Yes, all those tiny circles were English Paper-pieced. Click on the link above to see more photos and read more about it.

Improbables (Click to enlarge quilt on the left.)

Title: Sarah

She writes on her title card that this is “a passion for round blocks in the gypsy spirit.” I love that border!

Ecrit avec des fleurs (Written with Flowers). She writes “my hobbies written with only floral fabrics.” A self-declaration that could apply to so many of us.

By the way, this is where we were, just up from the dismantled Eiffel Tower.

More scenery. The little yellow church was Venue 7, with Virginie Peyre. One of her quilts is below. And the other was a World War I memorial, something we see in a lot of churches in Europe, as it ravaged the towns and villages.

Tapis Volant

She writes: “As a gift, I received an avalanche of ribbons intended for confectionery; this sudden abundance, plus the novelty of the material, put me in a trance! I pleat, bubble, pucker, weave, accumulate, saturate, letting pleasure be my guide.”

It was certainly novel!

We’re catching the late afternoon sun and it’s beautiful.

Yes, it’s late and we’re tired, meaning on that day in the past, it was time to get back to our hotel, check in with our daughter and our granddaughters, find some dinner, and a good night’s sleep. I will slide in more quilts to this blog at a later date (yes, I have more), but for now, we’ll leave me there on the steps saying “Are we done yet?”

Thanks for reading and for writing–I have so enjoyed seeing your reactions to these wonderful quilts!