Rookie Mistakes could be another title, even though I don’t consider myself a rookie. Both of these ideas are true for me this week.
I’ve had Krakow Circles kicking around since Spring, and when I needed a small something to finish, I chose this.
A quilt from Lois Parish Evans (Australia): Mandala 6 • Winter Solstice
After seeing Lois Evans’ quilts at Carrefour I decided to attempt her tiny stipple. Okay, not as tiny as hers, but a reasonable facsimile. Tiny victory, on this one too.
Then I continued the small stuff with swirly-circles. Tired of that, and not wanting a whole quilt to be that way, for the borders I drew on a wavy line, added more lines, then finally, a circle to echo all the others. Cool, I thought, a close-to-the-end tiny victory. Now, on to the binding. I chose to do it from the back-wrap-to-the-front, as for some quilts, I’ve come to love this look of the finished binding being on top.
Trouble.
I didn’t count on/remember/realize that the teensy stippling would draw up the quilt that much. Now those corner yellow circles would be cut off by the binding. I snipped a few threads, releasing them, and finished sewing the binding.
None of my circle templates would work, so I traced the end of a spool of thread onto freezer paper, cut those out and shaped them for appliqué. Except for one. That one I had to make even smaller. Yes, I do personalize my patchwork.
Kraków Circles, quilt #309, 28″ square
I started designing this at the end of May, after our return from Poland, and cut the first shapes June 3, 2025.
I think the back looks cool — it’s an older ombre-type fabric.
Labels are oldies from Northcott, by Deborah Edwards. I found them when we had to pull out the sewing desk from the wall when the new blinds went in. (Hmmm. There’s a lesson here somewhere.)
Finished: November 3, 2025. It’s a little victory to get this one done and it will hang in my sewing room, reminding me of Krakow’s churches and our trip there this past May. I’ll take tiny victories, these days.
Hope you have some too–
Other Posts about Kraków’s Circles
Kraków Circles (making)
Quilting and the Churches of Kraków
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 