Craftours Lifestyles Magazine December 2018 | Page 52

St. Basil’s Cathedral was built by Ivan the Terrible between 1555 and 1561 to commemorate his success-
ful military campaign. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik
Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again. (Nice bloke) Mr.
Yakovlev actually did go on to build another Cathedral despite being blind.
The intricacy of design leaves me in awe of the designer. The colors are predominately red and green and
as the sun hit those amazing domes, I wondered if that was where Madonna got her idea of her amazing bodily
encasement from.
I just had to take a deep breath when I began to investigate the tunnels and cavernous interior of the
Cathedral. Small dimly lit chapels and maze-like corridors occupy the inside of the church and the walls are
covered with bright colored floral murals from floor to ceiling. I took hundreds of photos, and with each one I
could see the possibility of creating the image in fabric.
Magnificent gold and jewel encrusted icons stare down from great heights in the different chapels.
There is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons and I admit to being a little
nervous about taking away some of their significance with my photos.
I was particularly taken with the designs on the garments of many of the Iconic Murals. This Icon became
the inspiration for a small quilt. I was able to use the computer to
create a similar image for the blocks. I would like to create a quilt
using silks and brocades in the same vein as the original Icon, but
my busy schedule doesn’t allow me luxury.

I began this article by saying that you begin to know yourself when
you travel. In Moscow I had a few hours to myself and as a result of
that, this is an excerpt from my diary. [next page]