I have just returned from a visit to Sainte Marie aux Mines in Alsace, France, which hosts the annual Carrefour Européen du Patchwork (translation from the French: the European Patchwork Meeting [literally, crossroads]. The event takes place, not just in the village of Sainte Marie aux Mines but also in the neighbouring villages of Sainte Croix aux Mines, Liepvre and Rombach le Franc. The event welcomes quilters from all over the world.
This is the thirtieth year the event has taken place in this area, which is considered to be the cradle of the Amish movement and there was a special display of Amish quilts this year. It is a most unusual quilt show which involves travelling from one place to another to find all the buildings which house displays of quilts. Several churches are used for exhibitions, like this one:
and some rather grand civic buildings like this one:
At the centre of the event is the Concours International (International Contest) which this year had the theme ‘Avant-Garde’. Only thirty pieces are chosen from all the entries (over a hundred and twenty this year). Each piece must fit the theme and be produced to a set size (80 x 120cm). The winner was announced at the show but all the attendees are also invited to vote for their favourite, so I’m going to share with you the one I liked best, which I found it intriguing, subtle and beautiful, ‘Moon of Return, Path of Beginning’ by Eujoon AN from South Korea:
Among the Amish quilts mentioned above, was this colourful example by Mary and Jake Glick, completed in 1998:
The most extraordinary thing about it was the absolutely impeccable hand-quilting. Just look at these tiny, regular stitches:
It is also possible to go to talks, provided free as part of the programme and I was able to hear quilter Dianne Firth talking about her approach to making landscape quilts. She lives in Canberra, Australia and is strongly influenced by the land in her academic work and in her quilting. Several of her quilts were on display, including this one, entitled ‘Floriad #3’:
The quilts were lit from above so they cast shadows onto the floor. The detail shown below, demonstrates how the artist plays with light and shadow through the use of transparent materials:
One location housed antique quilts from the collection of Janet O’Dell. The piecing and the quiet colours of this quilt drew me in:
Local quilt groups were represented and so were voluntary groups, like the ‘Work’ display of Decken von Patchwork-Gruppen aus Europa (translation from German: Quilts from Patchwork Groups from Europe. Many pieced quilts ready for quilting were draped over the pews in the church:
Here is a close-up of just one of them. The half-square triangle blocks throughout give it an elegant simplicity:
We stayed in the mountains a few kilometres away from Sainte Marie aux Mines in a gîte on a farm. The countryside was just beautiful and we enjoyed good weather for all four days of the event:
Next Monday, I’ll be sharing more quilts from the event.
To find out more about the Carrefour Europeen Patchwork, go to www.patchwork-europe.eu
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If you like the look of a traditional quilt, here is my pattern ‘Compass and Stars’. Of course it could also look stunning in bright solids… The pattern is here
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