Carrefour 2024: Quilts III

October 20, 2024August 30, 2025 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

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

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.

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.

See that grey low-slung building behind the red/yellow Meteor drinks tent? That is Espace des Tisserands, which translates to Weaver’s Space, and is an exhibition building.

First up in the post, is an exhibition by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, shown here with a self-portrait done in quilt. I am a fan of hers in many ways, and could almost be jealous of her being able to show at Carrefour, but I know how gracious she is (her talk from QuiltCon 2020 was disarming, thoughtful, and genuine), and how hard she works for her success. Of course, when you are star-struck, it’s hard to say anything coherent, so I didn’t ask her anything. Now I’d like to know, why she has started to incorporate photos-on-fabric in her work, what she thinks about this trend, how far can it go, and all that other stuff. Her latest book is also intriguing.

I didn’t photograph all her quilts (now I’m asking myself why not?). Mostly it was that we had only one day to see the Patchwork Show, and we were moving at a pretty good pace to try and visit all four towns and all seventeen venues. Next time I’m going slower. As always, if an image is in a gallery, clicking will enlarge it.

I also like how prominent the name of her quilter is on these title cards.

I love the line up of old-fashioned metal lawn chairs, both on the bottom and on the top. She used her own line of fabric in the white circles, and it’s a favorite fabric of mine. And — sorry to say — I didn’t stop to take a photo of this title card. I wrote to her and she gave me the title: “Polka Dot Garden Party.”

The large exhibition space is divided up with moveable walls, and we meandered towards The Modern Quilt Guild’s section. I spotted Yvonne Fuch‘s quilt (blue and white) and Ginny Robinson‘s quilt right away.

I tried to take different angle shots, so they could see how their quilts looked hanging, and with the other quilts.

I hope you are getting good at reading French. Always was happy to see the English underneath!

This is a quilt from the SAQA Europe and Middle East collection, right next to the Moderns.

And then we slid right into Quilt Art, and their exhibit, Following the Thread:

Sara Impey’s quilt puts into words what we are feeling here in America, with our election in a couple of weeks, even though she is from Britain. I guess the post-truth puzzle happens in many countries!

I wanted to show the details on this first, before you saw the full quilt:

Of course I loved this quilt of circles, sewn onto a semi-sheer fabric, and used for her tablecloth. Léna Meszaros had a small collection of her works; clicking on the link will tell you more about her and her work. Here is one that caught my eye:

Given that I brought home a full-blown case of covid after returning home, this quilt certainly was apropos for this time in my life. (Click to enlarge any image.)

She also had some sculptural works; I thought the Tour de France cyclists riding up the Eiffel Tower hat was a kick!

We walk by the lavender house one more time, and cross the little river…

…because we are headed to our car, and moving on out of Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines. Well almost–we have one more stop, at Chapelle St. Joseph (Venue 9) on the edge of town (below).

As we walked in, they handed us a latex glove. Oh, this is something different. On a giant frame, like the spokes of a wheel hung all these strips: about 500 of them, from 16 countries, and with 15,000 images. There’s only one way to see this, and it’s to go straight in.

Dave gives me a smile — it’s a happy place, with so much energy!

I step out to the side to get another perspective, and to look again. From the website:

“For its 35th anniversary, PatCHquilt invited all European guild members to apply for an identical 12 cm wooden bobbin. The 35 tiny mixed media blocks that make the long ribbons are based on the traditional themes of wedding anniversary gifts. This juried exhibition is the European premier of the collection. Not one bobbin is like the next, every type of textile technique is represented, from weaving to embroidery to batik.”

The catalogue further explained that the “35 tiny mixed media blocks that make the long ribbons are based on the traditional themes of wedding anniversary gifts.” Here’s a listing of those gifts, European-style.

Note: PatCHquilt has the C and the H capitalized on purpose.

(I blurred out some of the personal info on the labels.)

I thought Studio Mi’s interpretation of the red heels going the ribbon was pretty clever. Her tag even had them, along with a small decorative pair.

I think the idea was to use the listing of gifts, but perhaps not to get too precious about everything, maybe stitch it in a more casual way; the overall effect of these quilt ribbons put a smile back on our faces, and gave us energy to keep going. We even had music:

Towards the end of the video, you can see the “bobbins” that hold the streamers.

It was hard to leave this happy place. I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of discovery — how critical it is to my life to not be told everything, leaving some spaces for a spark of learning something new. I thought I “knew” quilt shows. But this exhibit was one I did not expect, but loved.

Across from the Chapelle St. Joseph was this pink apartment building of three stories. Well maybe four with that teeny window at the top. But two of the shutters on the third floor had tiny birdhouses attached to them, and the birds were fluttering all around.

With a baguette that we grabbed from one of the food tents, we climbed back into the car and headed off. One last thing for this post: Bits and Pieces of the Olympics.

We have no idea why a half-assembled Eiffel Tower is sitting in a junk yard way out here in Alsace.

Next post, which may be the last if you are too tired of all this and if I can cram more in: Saint Croix Aux Mines, Lièpvre and Rombach-le-Franc. There are fewer venues at the next three towns, but a couple of knock-your-socks off exhibits. (Okay, maybe there will be *two* more.)

European Patchwork Meeting · Quilt Shows · Travels

Carrefour 2024: Quilts II

October 16, 2024August 30, 2025 Elizabeth E.7 Comments

I’m writing about the experience my husband and I had at Carrefour European Patchwork Show in 2024, in Alsace France.

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

Previously, we arrived in Saint Marie-aux-Mines, and hit the Vendor Mall to start. Then we looked at the exhibits in the Theater (amazing), and now, we head on down the street to Venue 4: the Église des Chaînes, where the exhibit on the Amish is shown. The Anabaptists originally hail from this region, so this show always pays tribute to them by showing their quilts and their handiwork, including a tiny doll bed. (Click to enlarge any photo.)

I love Amish quilts, and many credit them with impacting the Modern Quilt movement, with their strong colors and simple shapes, although that was the first time I’d seen a Jacob’s Ladder block set like this (blue/red quilt).

Okay, leaving Venue 4 and heading to 5, Temple Réformé, where Val Patch was exhibiting. It is “an association from the Silver Valley (Val d’Argent in Franch) region (Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines, Lièpvre and Rombach-le-Franc), which is composed of over 20 friends. Its members are patchwork enthusiasts and some of them have been patchworking for over 30 years” (from the program).

I loved seeing all the color and forms; more info is found on the Carrefour site. But wouldn’t you like to have one of their pins (if they have one?) I would!

After that, we double-back to Venue 3: Église St. Louis to see the Anne Bellas exhibit, From River to Ocean, passing some street scenes on the way (it’s really a small village, but love all the sights).

It’s a challenge to light these older churches for quilt exhibits, and I give all kinds of credit to Carrefour European Patchwork Show for the bunches of light they bring in (you can see the scaffolding in the two photos, above — a long rail at the edge of the benches with lights aimed at the quilts). So I’ve tried to adjust the photos on this end, at the computer, to compensate as well.

Anne Bellas’ work was between improv and modern interpretations of different scenes. Often I traipsed to the end of a bench to get the best view I could, as she was inventive with her materials and thread. Here are a few of my best photos (not all of the photos were ready for blog-prime-time).

The program notes state:

“After living for a long time on the Atlantic coast, and now residing in Nantes on the banks of the Loire, Anne is obviously sensitive to the theme of the ocean and water in all its natural forms: coastlines and estuaries, rivers and lakes, stormy or dry seas, ice floes and storms are words that her imagination tries to recreate. For this series, on which she’s working…her sister Cécile, a budding writer, came up with a short text to accompany each of the works, developing the emotions and memories they evoke for her” (from Carrefour European Patchwork program, 29th edition).

(I did my best on the title cards as they were over my head in height; please forgive.)

I love the Saint peeking out overhead, watching over us quilters. Really, old churches and quilts might possible have a natural affinity one for another.

She also had a few small quilts for sale, too:

The white signs advertise Tissus (fabric) for sale.

We’re heading back across the tiny river to Venues 6 and 8, but I’ll save 6 (Espace des Tisserands) for the next post.

Many places were decorated, some with traditional items (geese and swans are big around here), and some with quilts (Pharmacy of the Swan):

Église Ste. Madeleine, venue 8 (with DH at the base of the steps).

Viewpoints, an international fiber art collective, exhibited here and many of the works referred to the poem “Ithaka,” by Constantin Kavafis (inspired by Homer’s Odyssey). The program notes say “Ithaca is the path, it is both a journey and a goal. Ithaca is life itself.”

This is where — several weeks later — you really hope you got the right title card with the right quilt. On these two, I don’t really know. (Click on any in the galleries to enlarge.) I did head to Hsin-Chen’s website and she does have a bit about Ithaka, so my fingers are crossed.

I also looked up Betty Busby, and maybe I’m right?

Get out your scraps!

Giving you a feel for how things were, in this exhibit.

Time to get to work in our sewing rooms/studio/garage/basement/wherever you and your fabric find each other.

Next up: Carrefour: Quilts III: All the moderns, Victoria Findlay Wolf’s new exhibit, and others.

European Patchwork Meeting · Quilt Shows · Quilts

Carrefour 2024: Quilts 1

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

(I had meant to roll these out quickly, every few days, but I brought home covid and it has stayed too long. My apologies.)

There are over sixteen different venues between the four towns in this corner of Alsace, and often there are there distinctly different groupings of quilts in each venue. So there are lot of different things to see.

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

After hitting all the vendors and grabbing lunch, we went to the Theater, in Saint-Marie-Aux-Mines.

We knew to look for this banner on the front of the venues. Downstairs in the Theater, is a series of red and white quilts from the International Quilt Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For years and years, two dealers in antique quilts held court on this bottom floor, and now they had retired, so the Quilt Museum lent some quilts.

I’m including the signage, as it has a specific number from the museum at the top (a reference if you want to find them online) as well as the year the quilt was made. A little video is here.

Peeking above the “walls” for the quilts is the proscenium arch of the theater, a rather elegant quilt venue.
(Click to enlarge the image of the quilt below to see it fully.)

We then headed upstairs to see quilts by Brazilian artist Sarah Luise Kaminski. Usually they have the artist by their exhibit, but unfortunately (the sign said), she couldn’t be there. I would have loved to ask her questions about the type of threads she used, and how long each “thread painting” took. See for yourself.

This next painting is based on a classical image by Lucas Cranach from 1527. I think you can see that at Carrefours, so many quilts are indeed works of art, and not just “quilts.”

Usually they have the dimensions on these cards, but to give you a sense of things, Semente (Seed), is about 14-16″ wide and about 24-ish inches tall. Here is a quick video from her Instagram, showing the scale of the quilts next to the visitors.

Missed getting the title card on this one, but you can tell who inspired this work. I have uploaded these photos in twice my normal size/resolution so you can (hopefully) enlarge them.

This was one of my favorites.

Loved the “giant marbles” on this playground.

Last one.

Down the stairs on the other side (note the tiny nine-patch mosaics on the floor), and out to the next venue.

Down the block and over a bit, and we come to this building, where the big contest/exhibit, Ocean, was held. The EPS (European Patchwork Show) chooses a theme every year, and asks for a specific size, and the following were some quilts from 2024. (Small video of the exhibit is here.)

This is to show you the scale.

The quilting! The size is 80 cm x 120 cm, which is about 23″ x 47″ very roughly. So, a small wall-size quilt. Here’s the website page announcing all the winners, and if you want to enter, here’s the entry info for 2025: Avant Garde, just in case you want to enter.

This one won Best of Show.

One of my favorites.

This won the People’s Choice Award, as well as receiving an honor from Babylock.

I thought the binding was beautiful: the use of the batik blended right into the quilt, so there isn’t much delineation in most of the quilt.

This one fascinated me: all those pearls, and the teensy pieces.

I tried to take it from the side, as I’m pretty sure all those pearls are sewn on under a fine netting of some kind: thicker than a tulle, I think, but fairly transparent. I just re-read the title card: poly-mesh, whatever that is.

And that’s the last of the Ocean quilts. In the same area (think of a senior center, or something), there were a couple of other exhibits.

They had a grouping of crazy patchwork quilts, and although I waited and waited…

…there were others who were determined to figure it all out. So I moved on to Carmen Netto’s small grouping of minimalist quilts.

Another quilter from Brazil, and she was here. I don’t speak Portuguese and she didn’t speak much English, so I just kind of patted my heart and thanked her in Spanish, hoping it might get across the language barrier. It did. She nicely posed for a photo with her work, Weather.

At first glance I thought it was a fabric example of kintsugi.

But no, it was couched thread. I loved the little bit of red.

Click to enlarge the small quilt to see it better.

Remember this? We’ve done #1 Theater, and #2 Pavilion Osmont, where we saw the Ocean exhibit. We are moving on to #3 Église St. Louis, walking along the small streets of this village.