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.