Carrefour European Patchwork Show 2024

October 3, 2024August 30, 2025 Elizabeth E.14 Comments

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

The Carrefour European Patchwork Meeting was held September 12-15, 2024, in a series of small villages in the Alsace region of France, and ever since my husband Dave and I had decided to take a trip to France this year, visiting this quilt show was on the docket. We’d come before and I so enjoyed it, that we planned again to visit. Carrefour means crossroads in French, and this area, where France, Switzerland and Germany meet is a perfect place for quilters to gather. Not only were there many European quilters, but a couple of quilters from the USA that I know also had representation, due to the Modern Quilt Guild’s traveling show (shout-out to Yvonne Fuchs and Ginny Robinson), which I’ll get to in a subsequent post.

This post is about getting there, and the Vendor Mall.

Other posts are:

Carrefour Quilt I: Theater (Venue 1): Red and White quilts, Sarah Luise Kaminski’s art quilts, Pavillon Osmont (Venue 2): Ocean contest quilts, Carmen Netto, and others.
Carrefour Quilt II: Église des Chaînes (Venue 4): Amish, Temple Réformé (Venue 5): Val Patch, Église St. Louis (Venue 3): Anne Bellas, Église Ste. Madeleine (Venue 8): Viewpoints.
Carrefour Quilt III: Espace des Tisserands (Venue 6): Victoria Findlay Wolf, The Modern Quilt Guild, Quilt Art, Léna Meszaros; Chapelle St. Joseph (Venue 9): PatCHquilt’s Concours Round Bobbin Invitational Challenge.
Carrefour Quilt IV: Église St. Blaise (Venue 7): Virginie Peyre
Espace D’Exposition (Venue 11): Quilt en rêve (remakes of antique quilts), France Aubert (Passion for Samplers), Selma Huisman-Hilderbrand (Walk Down Memory Lane)

This year it was in four villages: Saint-Marie-Aux-Mines, Saint-Croix-Aux-Mines, Lièpvre (which I could never say), and Rombach-le-Franc. There were multiple sites in the first two towns, and only a couple of venues in the last two. We learned to keep track of where we were by the numbers.

However, the day started here, in my hotel (above), when I noticed this woman’s quilted bag at breakfast. Quilter! I thought, and soon we were trading photos on our phones, and speaking in broken French/English. Her name was Marie, and yes, she was headed to Carrefours.

Saint-Marie-Aux-Mines (yes, this area is also known as the Valley of Silver, where there were a lot of mines) was about 35 minutes away through lush green hills…which turned into 45 minutes away because a road had washed out and we had to take a detour. Luckily we were following someone, who we rightly guessed was going the same place as we were, so we didn’t get (too) lost. Parking was good, and close by.

Okay, yeah. The map (again). We figured out we were standing right in front of Val Expo, the “Espace Commercial” which I took as a sign that we should buy the catalogue, the tote bag and do the shopping first.

Everything looks similar to the US quilt shows…and not similar. I had learned from before that I would not be buying large quantities of American fabrics, or large quantities of anything, even if I wanted to (luggage restrictions), so I spent a lot of time enjoying the booths visually.

Until I hit Atelier des ABCDaires. Whoa–these were screen-printed velvets that could be made up into bags. (I got permission to take these photos.) The colors were vivid, the product unusual, and she spoke perfect English. I spent some time here.

Three projects came home with me, but I could have purchased waaaay more.

Chifonie Studio‘s booth was filled with wonderful bits of polymer clay, for rings and charms, and she had a whole section of jewelry (yes, I bought some — it fits in the suitcase really well). [I’ve linked her ETSY shops.] And then I saw:

Marie! She was there with her two friends: Marie Claude, and another Marie. And then she told me her full name was Marie Claude, too. Quick quilty friendships–it was fun to see her again.

I love the embroideries from Un Chat Dans L’Aiguille, but I’m still working on the one I bought last time I was here.

I had determined not to buy fabric from the states, but here was a whole booth of fabric from Germany.

Beautiful cottons with unique designs. Sometimes our fabrics tend to look the same in America, so it was nice to see something different (I got permission to photograph — she’s smiling on the left, in the red shirt). Here’s a link to the Christmas Garland, one of the fabrics in this group I loved.

Fabric from Africa–a riot of colors and prints, and only bought a 1/2 meter of each. They were very stiff, but she promised me they would soften after washing.

I noticed a lot of quilters who looked like me: comfy shoes, and a bag to carry things in. There was also a booth I recognized from last time:

From a booth titled Les Editions de Saxe, I purchased a book of 37 different tote bags and projects, which they slipped into a brightly colored floral bag along with a catalogue. Bonus souvenirs!

The book was written by a Japanese quilter, but published in French. I looked for any magazines that might replace our beloved QuiltMania magazines, and there were some, but alas — not any in English.

Okay. Enough shopping. I had my tote bag from the show, the catalogue (map), and it wasn’t raining. All good things. We bought a couple of demi-baguettes with ham and butter (French butter!), took a seat and ate lunch. Then we left the Espace Commercial, and headed to other sites in town. Above, you see something you wouldn’t find at an American show: history is all around us here.

Next up: Saint-Marie-Aux-Mines quilt venues: Theater, Pavilion Osmont with the Ocean contest.

Travels

Eclipse Road Trip 2024

April 14, 2024August 30, 2025 Elizabeth E.15 Comments

This is a picture-book post of our recent trip in the Southwest of the United States of America, partly to see the total eclipse (it was cloudy where we were, but we made the most of it). More text and descriptions are on my Instagram; both my husband (who is a great photographer) and I posted using the hashtag #SW_eclipsetrip

More quilty posts begin again next week (if you are new here, they are usually on a Sunday morning.)

Gallery 1 (click to advance): Salton Sea, Felicity The Center of the World, stitching on my quilt Twilight Garden (a constant throughout the trip), Gardens of the LDS Temple in Tucson Arizona, wildflowers, roadrunner at the Las Cruces rest stop.

Lunch in El Paso, tiles that intimated an eclipse.

Hotel El Capitan in Van Horn Texas, Love’s blue sky.

Gallery Two: Eclipse Quilt made for my son and family, still stitching, beginning of eclipse, Texas hill town wildflowers, the old courthouse in Brady–which calls itself the Heart of Texas, a quilt shop (it wasn’t open yet).

North Texas prairie, with the red soil of that land.

Roswell sign, White Sands National Park.

Trinity Site Marker: I can’t separate the events on Trinity from what followed about a month later.

Gallery Three: One of three big reasons why we wanted to take this trip (family and the eclipse, the other two): The Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Here are three shots, culled from the many that I took of this place, but it is incredibly difficult to have photos give a sense of that New Mexico high desert, ringed by dark mountains, with these twenty-eight giant dish antennas spread out (sometimes as far as 13 miles), aimed high into the heavens. As I write this, I have on the soundtrack from the movie Contact, where the main character (played by Jodi Foster) uses the VLA to make a life-changing discovery. The three people standing next to the fence (to the right) of the dish help give you a sense of its size.

Mural in Magdalena, New Mexico (about 27 miles from the VLA)

San Miguel Mission in Socorro, New Mexico, founded in 1598.

Kingman Arizona train with four engines. Trains are everywhere along Highway 40.

My son-in-law built these quilt racks for my daughter’s collection of (my) quilts. Some were made by her children, though, with my help. Out of all my grandchildren, only these have come to see me and make quilts, so I’m happy this family loves them.

A very happy view this early morning, welcoming us back to our home state.

Statistics
Elevation range: from 1258 feet above sea level to 7200 feet (Ruidoso, New Mexico)
Overall Mileage: 3301.4
Days: 12 and a half
Gas Mileage: 27.3 mpg on average
Repairs: only an oil change in Albuquerque
Quirkiest: Roswell, New Mexico, with the giant pistachio near Alamogordo a close second
Weirdest: Felicity, The (self-declared) Center of the World, a little collection of buildings, and long granite slabs with engravings; near Yuma, Arizona
Prettiest Wildflowers: Sides of the Road in Hill County about an hour outside of Austin, with the fields in the Mojave a close second (with totally different terrains and flowers)
How Many Times a Day We Were Cranky: I’ll never tell.
Stories on Instagram with more on our trip

Happy Road Tripping to you–

In case the website link above fails, here is the info on the Roadrunner Sculpture (from Jennifer Bourn, from Inspired Imperfection):

The Roadrunner, designed by artists Olin Calk and Dan Smith, was created in 1993 as part of a recycling education program for the Las Cruces Foothills Landfill. The large-scale artwork was meant to draw attention to the landfill and the issues regarding consumption, the potential reuse of some materials, and the recycling of mass consumed packaging residuals.
The giant Roadrunner has become an icon of Las Cruces and in 2001, it was moved to the Scenic View Rest Area. Unfortunately, over the years the harsh desert climate negatively affected the materials of the sculpture, which were never designed to be permanent, and vandalism by visitors who wanted to put their own spin on the artwork took its toll.
In 2012, the Roadrunner Statue was dismantled and moved to Olin Calk’s farm so it could be refurbished. The renovations were completed in 2014 and the statue was returned to its place at the Interstate 10 Scenic View Rest Stop, this time placed atop a giant base designed to look like a big rock.
The current version of the Roadrunner Sculpture uses multimedia recycled elements like Volkswagen headlights, used sneakers, golf clubs, a trophy, old plastic toys, metal from the City of Las Cruces’ recycling center, and things gathered from local thrift stores.

Travels

A Pattern Language

November 1, 2023August 31, 2025 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

“Every society which is alive and whole, will have its own unique and distinct pattern language; and further, that every individual in such a society will have a unique language, shared in part, but which as a totality is unique to the mind of the person who has it. In this sense, in a healthy society there will be as many pattern languages as there are people–even though these languages are shared and similar.

“…patterns are very much alive and evolving.”

from A Pattern Language, by Christopher Alexander, et al.

Santo Stefano, Bologna, Italy — dating back to the 5th century

I’ve been in another’s society’s pattern and language for the past week, and every day I felt as if there were a little pop! in the brain when I’d see something familiar…but not quite knowable. When the brick above resembled what I know as quilt block shapes, but I’m guessing the people of Italy didn’t have quilts like the ones we make in the fifth century. So what were these?

This sidewalk pattern reminded me of what Yvonne has done in her recent quilt. I was reading her posts on Instagram and every day I’d think of her as I walked by this pattern.

I definitely recognize the hexie-flower pattern, seen on a shop floor.

So recognizable, but with a twist of unfamiliarity. Here’s a 4-inch version of the center block, called Arrowhead:

Arrowhead 4″ templates Download

It wasn’t until it rained (darker area) that this tile underfoot because interesting. When wet, it looks like seed stitch punctuated by French knots.

I definitely recognize the chick wearing the spool of thread. Now these things are definitely in my territory.

Would we ever see a thimble and spool of thread in a high-end, fancy-schmancy store on a swanky retail avenue? Not likely. But here they honor the “art of craftsmanship,” and yes, I know, that referring to quilting as a craft can be a nails-on-the-chalkboard experience for some. But here, when it’s related to way-pricey bespoke shoes, I’m okay with the connection.

So the cream of all patterns — when in Florence — has to be in the Piazza del Duomo, with its cathedral, baptistry (front left) and bell tower (right). I wanted to take photos of every band, every design. I was in pattern heaven:

It also helps that we were waiting in line, held captive by the tourist experience, so I had the chance to study the designs a lot.

If I turn this screen pattern on a diagonal, it resembles the quilting pattern I chose for my new Christmas quilt.

If you have ever traveled to a pattern-rich place, do you do the same thing that I do? Try to figure out what patterns are workable, and which ones you could cart back in your memory or camera to try to spark what you are working on?

Or do you just let things empty out of your brain, letting things fall out and leaving them behind at home, and then slowly allow what you see to filter in? I’ve done it both ways, notebooks filled with sketches and cameras filled with snapshots. Some become quilts:

from the tiles of one of Gaudi’s houses in Barcelona, to my quilt Annularity.

While other things I see are just parked in the brain somewhere. (Do those side guards look like rabbits to you?)

The first thing I bring home with me is a way of cooking, like this bruschetta. It was not on the menu at the local trattoria, but we saw it served when the local postman sat down at the table next to us. The next day, my husband ordered it for lunch. Now you can bet I’m trying to find a good focaccia recipe. I have already purchased the tomatoes. And when my jet lag eases up, I’ll be in business.

Given my experiences with the moon lately, I so want to do something with these ideas that made my brain pop a little bit. Maybe that family who designed a crest also had an affinity with the heavens?

So welcome home to me, with a brain full of patterns, ideas, new sights, jet lag (which makes this post drift a little), food ideas, and hunger for Bologna’s own Majani chocolate. I’m sad to leave Florence and Bologna behind, yet happy to be back in my own bed, in my own place, back to my own pattern language.

A bit of Bologna’s porticos, a World Heritage site.

We tagged our trip #ramazzinidays2023 on Instagram, if you are interested. It’s a long story why. Catch me at a quilt show and I’ll explain.

Free Motion Quilting · Something to Think About · Temperature Quilt · Travels

This and That: October 2023

October 15, 2023August 31, 2025 Elizabeth E.17 Comments

Of course I took my quilt titled Annularity up to the Annular Solar Eclipse, and took its photo while the eclipse was going on.

And my new Eclipse quilt also got a photo. The first photo is beside the car from Colorado, with two photographers, five cameras, boatloads of gear and who still called themselves “amateur.” To our left was Tim from Temecula (about 35 minutes from our home in California), and on the other side of him was an Astronomy teacher from Murrieta (about 45 minutes away from our home). I did a roll call video, as people were stationed all around the sports park in Beaver, Utah. Near the end of the eclipse, the car just beyond Colorado (they were from Hurricane, Utah), opened up two portable burners and invited us to have tacos with them, since two of their group were having birthdays. When the moon was exactly in the center of the sun, cheers erupted around the park. It was wonderful.

Oh, and here’s an earlier trip to an eclipse in Utah.

Other than that, what have I been doing? Quilt-prepping. Watching news. Struggling with social media. But first, some quilts.

I fell in love with a Quilt Kit for a quick Christmas Quilt, although as usual, I changed it up, leaving off the word Christmas from the front. I just wanted a nice TV quilt, and didn’t need the drapey-wordy-thingie across the front, although it would be cute if you were hanging this. And I am quite fond of this designer’s fabrics. I finish up a quilt top and I think, oh good! I’m done! but I’m not. These are steps I go through to prep it up for Jen, my Longarmer.

Lay out the batting on the top of my bed, and cut the batting 6″ larger all the way around. I have a roll of my favorite batting, and Jen is okay to use what I like. The Eclipse quilt is waiting ~~in the wings~~ on the pillows.

I smooth the quilt back up on the design wall and construct a backing that’s 6″ larger all the way around. On the right, I climbed through the stash and cut-and-sewed to create a back. The blue swath is fabrics concerned with planets, moons, outer space and rabbits. When you are shopping the stash, you get what you get, even if it means rabbits.

I do a sheet like this for every quilt. It travels with the quilt, but it is also a record for me. It took me ages to pick out the panto for Merry (my title). My long armer has some good sources on her website, but often it’s just me clicking through a site. For this one I chose “Boujee” from Intelligent Quilting, designed by Melissa Kelley.

So I make the background transparent in my Affinity Photo program, then copy and paste it onto the quilt image, enlarging it or smallerizing it until it’s how I like it. This panto reminded me of stained-glass windows from France, and I thought it might work. I like SoFine thread, and I have a thread card (and many spools) so I can tell her what color I like.

Eclipse was a bit harder, because I have that yellow and orange and then the dark blues and black. So I spooled off some thread over the top, letting it fall over the areas to see how it will look. I’ve also heard of others who sew a bunch of different scraps together and then stitch down the pieced strip with different thread to see how it will look.

Finally the parts are ready. I sometimes will wrap up the parts for a quilt together, as the batting isn’t labeled. I do put little signs at the TOP of every piece, so that if I have a certain direction I want the top to go in, Jen will see that. (She always sends the little signs back to me.)

Then it’s find a sturdy box, put in a giant plastic bag, placing the quilts inside the bag. I include a paper with both of our addresses, and then tape the label on the outside of the box. I re-use bags, keeping them in my quilt closet so I know they haven’t held the lawn clippings from outside. Kidding. We recycle our lawn clippings. And our table scraps. And our cardboard, bottles, etc. And I reuse a lot of my quilting scraps and make Frankenbatting, so I’m good on that front, too. Geesh, I sound like I live in California, or something.

Recently the news came out that QuiltMania magazines (shown above) won’t be on newsstands for you to snatch up and enjoy. If you want to get their fine publication, you’ll need to subscribe. I’m writing this everywhere (on our local guild blog, too), with links to QuiltMania, Simply Vintage and Simply Moderne, so you can welcome this subscription into your home. We let our beloved Quilters Newsletter slip away from us; let’s keep these magazines around. I love that I get a glimpse of various quilt shows, how quilters around the world are doing, and different trends that can only come with a global viewpoint.

On the left is my very first Instagram post, on June 8, 2012. On the right is a screenshot of how Instagram 2012 really looked, with those blue banners. This is a screenshot of a quilt from QuiltCon, in 2013, and it’s when the power of this app sort of came alive to me–I could see all these quilts at a show where I wasn’t. I don’t remember much about comments early on, although clearly we could make comments. I remember that we mostly concentrated on how many heart-likes we received. Many months later, one quilter that I followed was diligent in replying to each and every comment, and I remember thinking: “We’re supposed to do that?”

Why am I strolling down memory lane? Because Instagram did this to my account:

And they aren’t kidding. The “Tell us” button is bogus. It does nothing. So I’m back to a decade ago, liking things, posting things, but unable to have a conversation. If I really need to get through, I send a DM. It’s kind of weird, but also very freeing — meaning that while I miss our little conversations we had every day — I’m not included in the IG universe for a while. I don’t really know how to describe this, but it feels very much like how I felt at the beginning. And now this little meme is how it feels now (watch out, there’s one bad word), and it takes a minute to figure it out, but it’s so good.

Couple that with the warning I saw last week that if we have any Jewish or Palestine feeds, we should stay off Instagram for a while, as the Hamas terrorists are plan to air videos of those they took hostage, and it won’t be good. The whole incredibly horrendous attack on Israel has me aware, but admittedly, hiding. I know what’s going on and am not turning a blind eye to the suffering, but I am careful where I click, what I watch, all the while keeping the prayers going, and wondering which charity to donate to to help. Our church partners with many non-profit organizations around the world, and I know that soon we’ll find our avenue of action and a way to help. As Elizabeth Spiers wrote for the New York Times, “Sitting with uncertainty is hard.”

I imagine you are all in the same boat I am. So I write seemingly blythe posts like this one, but know that’s all I can do at this moment. I remember that even Christ was “troubled in spirit” as he contemplated what would befall him, when he considered the betrayal that would come. And the children in that area of the world, and their families, have certainly been betrayed. Wherever you find solace, I wish that for you, because for many of us, “peacemaking means that we resist the impulse to respond and instead…remain quiet” (from here). This does not mean quiet forever, but actively looking for the right moment, the right time, and in the right way. During this time of waiting, I will continue to post about quilting, and my life and the things that infuse joy, working to steadily to loosen the roots of evil where I can.

So, last quilt to report on. Progress on the temperature quilt for 2023, as I’m pretty much caught up. It’s a whole different color scheme than my first one, and the jury is still out on whether or not I like it. And yes, speaking of juries, I was summoned to Jury Duty for this next week, but since I’m going to be here…