Caro's blog

Little doll quilt

2012-02-12T19:04:00.002+01:00

Today we did a 35 minute visit at the County Museum in The Hague.
This is the advantage of having

":museumcards". The museumcard give you free access to a lot of museums in the Netherlands, and you can go as often if you want. The county museum is a very big museum, feels like a kind of maze when you're walking around. I totally lost track. Lucky I had my DH with me.

We had to made choices and visited the "doll houses" exhibition and we went to the "wonderrooms". I could only find one little doll quilt. (All the other pictures are from the website of the museum.)

Especially in the 17th and 18th century people spend a lot of money of decorating dollhouses. The exhibition shows dollhouses from several European countries, and even one from China. The 25th march is the last day of the exhibition. So hurry if you're a fan of dollhouses.

The wonderrooms is something you just have to experience. We just visited only 1 of the 6 rooms, and it was full of funny "junk".

A nice way to spend a grey and cloudy sunday in the Netherlands.

Slowly but steady .....

2012-02-05T09:44:00.007+01:00

.. my original plans to clean up and tidy up my quiltroom during my X-mas holiday were unexpectly changed on first X-mas day.

So now very slowly my quiltroom is getting reorganised with the help of my DH. One of the most important things for me is that we changed my cutting table. I used to use a little wooden dining table for cutting my fabrics, but to be honest, of course it's too low. Now we have changed it and my DH bought me a bar table at Ikea (what a great store). So cutting fabrics has become a much healthier process for my back.

Of course I had to try it out just for a short moment. One of my projects for 2012, beside all my other UFO's, is making a kingsize crazy dog quilt. Last year in march I bought several dog fabrics in Seattle. So I hope I have enough, and if not, then I have to do some shopping in september in Seattle again.

But with the cold nights and winds blowing around the house I really appreciate my warm quilts.

They even talking about a "elfstedentocht" (eleven city skating tour 200 km). Woh, that would be great the last one was in 1997.

Still very very very slowly, but still steady things are getting a little bit back to normal.

Stlll under construction Spakenburgerhouses

2012-02-02T12:36:00.002+01:00

The quilt for the museum in Spakenburg (if they want it) is almost finished, just the border.

My own quilt will be a little bit bigger but not the 365 houses, at the moment I'm thinking about 8x8, that'still 64, I already made decisions for the sashings and the border. Maybe in the corners another house. We will see. I wonder how many are there already build worldwide? I have done 15 in januar, slowly but steady.

Applecores

2012-01-29T16:58:00.002+01:00

Two projects: Spakenburger houses (14 finished) and Appelcores. For the applecores I borrowed a stamp from Dieuwke (you can buy it in Dorry's quiltshop). It's very easy, and saves you lots of times, no drawing with templates. On the other hand you loose that time because sewing applecores is much more complicated then I thought. I love the mix of muslin and scrap fabrics. You know I'm a muslin addict, so visiting Marne in september there will be muslin on my shopping list again. Because I want this to be a big quilt.

It seems that next week will be a little bit colder, some freezing temperatures. Well who cares, with all the narcisses we bring spring into our home.

This is just The Hague

2012-01-25T06:12:00.002+01:00

No we are not on holiday in some tropical country. Although that sounds very tempting. Long time ago a few ring- neck parakeets escaped, and for some reason they survive very well here. In The Hague there are living about 5.000 parakeets. What about our great tit and blue mouses, well they're not impressed only a little bit harder to get on the photo.

Spakenburger houses choices to make

2012-01-21T19:21:00.000+01:00

Decisions to make about my Spakenburger houses. Well not 365 that's for sure. I started with the originally pattern with sashings around, and cornerstones between. But it didn't make me really happy. So I'm going for option 2, making rows of houses, with only sashings up and under like blue skies. So there will be two Spakenburger Houses Quilts. A small one I will finish the orignally way but only with 9 houses. A gift for the museum in Spakenburg where I found my fabric treasures. And a big one just for me "the 100, 81, or 64 houses of Spakenburger. Depending the amount of fabric I have. The border will be just rectangles. It's really fun, maybe Jeanneke can do a counting on the first of januar 2013. How many houses have we made all over the world. The Guiness book of records?

A creative family

2012-01-16T09:49:00.004+01:00

My father is a bookbinder, this is one of his examples. Very handy at the moment, I use it for my daily report. A few times a year you can find him on little markets selling his products. My sister likes all kind of handcrafts, together with her son Thomas she made this X-mas gift. It's hanging on our balcony, and with the temperatures falling down, our city birds will be very happy. My mum likes to makes clothes, my little niece Sophie got a whole collection for her dolls. Sorry no pictures. And what about me, well things are slowing down a little bit. But this weekend I made this little happy flower house of the Spakenburger costume fabrics. By the way I passed my first exam Management Science/Busness Administation with a very good result. My next course will start in april.

Pin cushions

2012-01-12T07:14:00.004+01:00

Well what's so interesting about pincushions, except that you need them for your needles and pins. Well I was looking for my friend Marne for a special pincushion, something she could easily use after her surgery. In the hospital or when she's back home, the last thing you want is to find needles and pins in your bed.

I love my little finger pincushion, it's very handy and I use it a lot at the moment. I bought one at an exposition in Seattle, but they're very easy to make yourself. Just use the cap of a bottle.

Here is a very good tutorial.

At the Etsy shop you can find hundreds of differents pin cushions, and all kind of home made products. For example I ordered a little pillbox with a black cocker spaniel on it. Real fun. Very handy are the pincushion you can wear around your wrist, so this one is flying to Seattle. So you see there is a lot to tell about pin cushions.

Maybe a little Spakenburger House as a pincushion?

Surfing around here a few give-aways you really shouldn't miss:
Marha, Supergoof and Simone

Under construction Spakenburger Houses

2012-01-11T13:25:00.001+01:00

It's going slowy but steady. But really, it's fun. And I love peeking around on all the other blogs with the building activities. Some of them are really going speedy, they will manage the 365. For the moment my goal is to make100 Spakenburger houses. And then probably put a nice border around it with all the leftovers. Then I can call my quilt: "The 100 houses of Spakenburg".

Looking at my progress, 6 done, 4 cut, 90 on more to go. I'm on schedule : ).

And yes another photo of my dog, he keeps me lots of company at the moment, and his favorite spot is next to me on the bed. Like a real "service" dog, full of attention, ready for action : ).

Spakenburger Houses

2012-01-07T15:25:00.000+01:00

Yes, I'm also one the quilters who's joining the "Quiltvirus Building Houses from Scraps".

Till now I have made five houses. I don't think I will keep catching up making one every day. The fabrics I have chosen are scraps/parts from traditional Spakenburger costumes.

All the windows and doors will be red-white. The red-white represents the colour of the scarfs the Spakenburger women wear. And the blue? Well the blue skies of the Netherlands (in summer).

Of course like all the other quilters I have special box for it. Marne and Elaine send it as a X-mas present for Rob with salmon in it. The salmon will be used for lunch tomorrow. And poor husbands who are married to quilters, we can always use a nice wooden box for one of our projects.

Did you know that Seattle is the heart of the Pacific salmon fishery. The painting of the box is from one of the original North-West Tribes.

The Pacific Northwest Coast people believed that Salmon were actually humans with eternal life how lived in a large house far under the ocean. In the Spring, they put on their Salmon disguises and offered themselves to the villagers as food. The tribes believed that when entire fish skeletons were returned to the sea, the spirits would rise again and change into Salmon people. In this way, the cycle could begin again the following year. Since the villagers feared that the Salmon people would not be treated respectfully by White people who had no knowledge of the taboos and regulations, they did not want to sell Salmon to the first White men.

Weather report The Hague

2012-01-05T11:44:00.001+01:00

There is a storm that keeps us busy here in the Netherlands. Strong and gusty winds that's what we get today, windforce 7 to 8 (30-40 miles an hour).

The tree that I'm watching from my quiltroom window didn't make it. And what's my dear husband doing? He went out for a ride on his bike.

Reflections 2011

2012-01-02T07:12:00.000+01:00

A new year, a new start, a time for reflections. It seems that 2011 passed very quickly, but I remember it as an fantastic year.

I finished several antique quilts and did my first show-and-tell at Bep.
I made a trip to Marne and Elaine, which was really fantastic again.
I wanted to start my big dog quilt, maybe this year.
Granny had her 85th birthday party in march.
In april we had fantastic weather the rest of the summer was lousy.
Marne and Elaine stayed for 10 weeks in the Netherlands, Dieuwke and I embarrassed them with a "welcome quilt" on the airport.
Rob cycled 146 kilometers for the Childrens Hospital in The Hague. Together they raised 19.000 euro.
And then of course there was Grace's Quilt. I'm still busy writing the story, and I'm still in contact with Grace's daughter and granddaughter.
September was all about holidays: Germany, Paris and St. Marie-aux-Mines.

Unfinished reindeer Quilt

In october believe it or not: the dutch won the World Baseball Championship.
November/december I spend most of my time at my study, I finished my first paper and still waiting for the result. I changed my house in X-mas, but the reindeer quilt, is going back in the X-mas box, unfortunetaley I didn't manage to finish it, so I will give a new chance for X-mas 2012.

And what about 2012, I don't know what will come, but I'm sure it will be full of new challenges and suprises.

Goodbye 2011, hello 2012

2011-12-30T20:49:00.006+01:00

We wish you:

- no rain, but sunshine

- instead of sorrow, lots of joy

- good health

- and friendship

May quilts keep you warm, and doors be open for friends and family. You´re welcome.

Happy 2012!!!!

Rob, Caroline and Paco

X-mas gifts

2011-12-30T04:20:00.000+01:00

In the Netherlands we don't do really X-mas gifts. Although it's changing, but in our family we more have a tradition of celebrating Sinterklaas. So all our X-mas gifts came from our friends overseas. Rob and I really had a fun time at breakfast unwrapping gifts. There was my gift from the SSCS 2011, Jo made me this beautifull sewing bag, I adore it, and it contains my apple-corn project now. THANK YOU SO MUCH. And then lovely gifts from Seattle, quilt things and salmon "lekker". The little basket is made by Marne, when I'm in Seattle she's going to teach me how to make it. And the little quilt, that's very special to us. It's made from costume fabrics from Spakenburg. We (Elaine, Marne, Rob, Paco and I) visited the museum in june together. So this is a lovely memory of our time together.

X-mas

2011-12-29T09:45:00.002+01:00

Here some pictures of the family, aren't they sweet my little nieces and nephews.

Merry X-mas

2011-12-25T07:24:00.000+01:00

In the Netherlands we have two X-mas days. Today it's just a quiet day we spend together. Walking, a little bit of quilting, unwrapping our gifts, some reading, just enjoying time together, after some busy weeks at work. Tomorrow we''re having a family day at my parents house. My brother, sisters, their partners and five kids will be there. It's a long time ago we spend X-mas all together, because my brother and his family lived in China for three years.

X-mas holiday ........

2011-12-23T18:16:00.000+01:00

.... 10 days free from work. My study starts the 10th januar, and I finished my paper two weeks ago. Well what are my plans: sewing, quilting, reading on the sofa, walking the dog.... The weather is just grey and rainy, but after a walk, Paco and I are very comfortable under and up my X-mas quilt, we like to share. In the meanwhile I'm working at a reindeer quilt from Atelier Bep, and cutting lots and lots of houses. You know quiltvirus!

X-mas stockings

2011-12-20T20:08:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I made 6 X-mas stockings, three for my nephews Thomas, Nathaniel and Chris, two for my nieces Sophie and Promise, and one for the dog Bo. I will take them to my parents and hang them up there, because we will celebrate X-mas in Epse with the whole family. For the time being they're hanging in our hallway.

I was doing research on the internet about X-mas stockings, what's the idea about this tradition. Well here is one of the stories:

Very long ago, there lived a poor man and his three very beautiful daughters. He had no money to get his daughters married, and he was worried what would happen to them after his death.

Saint Nicholas was passing through when he heard the villagers talking about the girls. St. Nicholas wanted to help, but knew that the old man wouldn't accept charity. He decided to help in secret. He waited until it was night and crept through the chimney.He had three bags of gold coins with him, one for each girl. As he was looking for a place to keep those three bags, he noticed stockings of the three girls that were hung over the mantelpiece for drying.

He put one bag in each stocking and off he went. When the girls and their father woke up the next morning, they found the bags of gold coins and were of course, overjoyed. The girls were able to get married and live happily ever after.(www.wikipedia.com)

Isn't that a lovely story?

Bus 24

2011-12-18T13:20:00.002+01:00

Yesterday our friend Miep from Almere (where we lived for almost 20 years) came along. Making our plans we decided to do a short visit at the beach and then visit 1 or 2 museums with our museumcard.

Bus 24 is the solution. The stop is close to our house and it brings you all the way to Kijkduin (beach), along the way you pass 4 museums. Well the plans changed when we came to the beach, the weather was pretty good, we had the wind in our back, so we decided to walk to Scheveningen and ended with a cup of tea in the Kurhaus (lovely the ceilings, and X-mas ornaments).

Building Spakenburger Houses from scraps

2011-12-16T14:25:00.004+01:00

The first two houses are build. I used scraps from my antique costume fabrics from Spakenburg, except for the light blue and the red-white. It was a little bit puzzling, would I use several fabrics for one house, or just 1 or 2. Well I think I like the blue house best. I think I prefer to keep the houses rather simple. How many I'm going to build? No idea, maybe I quit when I'm through my scraps. Maybe not, they're more work then you think. The house for today is finished. Tomorrow number 3. Or cheating and just make another one this afternoon. OEPS I just read the rules, we're supposed to start the 1th of januar, so just cutting them the next weeks, and no sewing. Or are there more quilters who already broke the rules ; ).

Midwinter Horn Blowing

2011-12-11T21:40:00.001+01:00

During the advents week before X-mas till the 6th of januar you can hear the horns blowing in the east part of the Netherlands (where I grew up). It's a very old tradition.

But how old? There are different opinions about it. Some say 1500 A.D. is assumed the first year that they blow the midwinter horns, some say it started during the dark ages. There is document of 1815 in the county archive that mention midwinter horn blowers. A father and son were accused of warning smugglers by using their midwinter horns.

They blow the horns to chase the evil spirits and ghosts away, and to welcome springtime, a new beginning. But it's also a way to communicate, when you hear the horn of the next village, you answer it with horn blowing.

By the way, it's not done when you blow the horn when somebody else is blowing.

This sunday you could hear the horn blowers in the woods of Exel. It gives a very special feeling walking in the woods, grey and cloudy, and hear the horns .

Youtube video Hornblowers of Exel

Replacing my laptop through a sewing machine

2011-12-10T10:00:00.001+01:00

Yes!!! My paper for my study is now really finished, and this morning I put it on the mail. That means there is now room on the dining table for my sewing machine. And I can assure you that it will be there till the 15th of januar (then my next course starts: Information management).

Woh, imagine 4 weeks without study projects. I ordered my own X-mas present and it already arrived this week., the last 4 books of Jennifer Chiaverini.

On the 15th december the pattern of a new quiltvirus "Houses from scraps" will arrive. The virus is spreading all over the world. Click on "house" photo (right side), if you want to know more about it. And there is Rudolf, he's the newest member of my homemade reindeer collection.

Rudolf, pattern Atelier Bep

Life can be so good, quilting (with friends) and reading quilt books

SSCS arrived safely in Australia

2011-12-06T12:43:00.000+01:00

It always is an adventure if you're sending parcels across the world. But Cornelia arrived safely on Dale's doormat.http://day-daysblog.blogspot.com/

Please, mr Postman

2011-12-01T22:04:00.001+01:00

Wait, oh yes wait a minute mister postman

Wait, wait mister postman
Mister postman look and see

If there's a letter in your bag for me

.......

I like this song, especially singing it aloud in the car, you know when nobody can hear you. This song seems to be applicable to X-mas time, when the postman is bringing me gifts on my doormat. And yes there was a package in the mail today, from my Secret Santa. Isn't this a lovely X-mas stocking? THANK YOU!!!! There is more but we were only allowed to open the X-mas ornament.

And Chookey is very precise about it ; ).

Want to know if we had a good time sunday .......

2011-11-28T04:05:00.002+01:00

at Atelier Bep ...... well I can assure you we did. We met quilters from all over the country, and what's more fun then whole day talking about quilts wich each other. I really enjoyed, and it feels very good when people are really interested in what you do, and enjoy it as well. Thanks everybody for your kind and warm reactions.

I have written before about Bep, it's a very lovely quiltshop (in an old pig shed) in middle of the Netherlands. Inside and outside is so much to see. What do you think of the little mouse. The cat on the table and the dog behind the stove?

I did a few show-and-tells in the kitchen. And Doris, lots of people loved your mother's quilt (Grace's Quilt) and especially the story how we have met each other. In the meanwhile Dieuwke was entertaining in the livingroom. Bep used her whole house to put in all her guests. We, Simone, Gemma and Loekie each had a corner in the livingroom, just behind the kitchen, so we were close to the coffee, gluhwein and cakes. Bep made lovely carrotcake for us.

MORE PHOTOS CLICK HERE

Well I only can say, if you're neighbourhood next year, don't forget to come. And if somebody is interested in a show-and-tell about my antique quilts please email me.

Caro, Dieuwke and Bep

A dozen of antique quilts .........

2011-11-26T17:23:00.000+01:00

... want to see them? Come to Atelier Bep tomorrow (27 nov.), she will be having her X-mas sunday from 11.00 - 16.00.

This afternoon Dieuwke and I were just having fun with my antique quilts, playing around, sorting them out. Wich quilts will we take with us, wich quilttops and blocks are for sale.

So here some pictures just to get in the right mood. And I really had to show you the picture of Grace. Doris her daughter send to me. Isn't it lovely. Doris and I are still writing to each other. Of course Grace's quilt is coming with us, to make her tour 'through' the Netherlands.

It will be very exciting because it's first time that I'm going to show my quilts, and of course you hope other people will enjoy them too. Well dear readers, maybe I see you tomorrow, and if not we will meet again in the bloggingworld.

Grace Taylor Turner

Wintertime: Little meatballs with carrots and potatoes in the oven

2011-11-24T16:53:00.003+01:00

It's not that cooking is one of my favorite things. I prefer spending my time quilting (or studying). But this is a very good recipe for quilters. It's easy, you don't need a lot of ingredients and you can make big portions, and put them in the freezer.

It's from Marne's favorite shop in the Netherlands: Albert Heijn click here for the: RECIPE. If you want to read it in english, just use google-translate, works very good for this recipe.

Chookeyblue's Secret Santa Claus Swap

2011-11-24T06:55:00.000+01:00

Each year it's fun. A lot of parcels are flying around the world now. Last week we finally were allowed to sent our X-mas parcel. My parcel is going about down under. Today my Secret Santa Swapper sent me an email to let me know that my parcel is on the way. But no clue about herself? Please, please, please give me a hint ; ).

Spending the weekend on the Veluwe .....

2011-11-21T06:22:00.002+01:00

... in our summerhouse, walking in the woods, but no internet, so it felt a little bit like being cut off of the world. No chance to update my blog. But that's not the only reason. I'm working very hard on my paper for my study Management Science, I'm planning to finish it the first week of december. Oefff. It's not all studying, I did a little bit of quilting. I finished one of my UFO's. I haven't count my UFO's yet, but I will during my X-mas holiday. I made the quilttop probably in 2010, didn't know what to do with it. So when my friend Yolande came along and saw the top, she said her mother would love it. Her mum is in a wheelchair, and we think this quilt will fit very well. So, some (machine)quilting, a binding around it, and now it's moving to the north part of the Netherlands. And of course there are more Cornelia's.

What's going on...

2011-11-11T20:04:00.005+01:00

..... well not much quilting I can assure you. I'm very busy with my Management Science, and work. But of course there is always something to tell. First Marne's request. A picture of my poison green baby quilt, dated around 1870. If you want to see this quilt for real come to Atelier Bep on the 27th of november. Then I'm also in the SCSS 2011 swap, I just finished my gifts, they're ready to post. The SSCS from Chookey is always very fun to join. Although Cornelia is little big for a little X-mas ornament, she is so lovely, so she will be moving down under. And not to forget Moosie. So you see I did a few little things.

There is also more news about Grace's Quilt. I received a lovely letter and beautiful pictures from Doris (Grace's daughther) from her mother, as young woman and as older lady. I will take Grace's quilt with me to Bep.

Happy Birthday

2011-10-31T06:50:00.001+01:00

My mum became 69 years last monday, and my dad had his 70th birthday yesterday.

Time for a party with family and friends. The weather was lovely so beside eating and drinking, we did a little "historical" walk in the surroundings with my dad as a tour guide.

And of course, worthwile to mention: The Granddad and Grandma Quiz. Thomas (their eldes grandson) read the questions. Unfortunetaley they didn't win the first prize (weekend to Paris), but the second prize: a flight with an airballoon. And after 46 years of marriage my mum still didn't know the favorite food of my dad, one of the questions of our quiz. It's "apple paste", and not kidney beans with bacon ; ). More Photos.

Poison green

2011-10-22T09:16:00.001+02:00

I haven't told you yet about my antique baby crib quilt I bought in St. Marie-aux-Mines at Mary Koval.

It's from around 1870, and probably from Lancaster. What makes this quilt so special is the "poison green" .

Poison green or acid green as it's called, was a very popular color in quilts. It was first seen in quilts in the 1830s. They called it "poison green" because arsenic was sometimes used to produce green dyes.

Carel Wilhelm Scheele

The chemist Scheele (1742-1786) discovered arseninic's used as coloring agent in 1778. The green color became very popular. Varations been extremely popular for dying and printing cloths and wallpapers, and worst of all for food coloring. By the 1860s people became aware of the toxic quantities in Scheele's green, and realise the danger of wallpaper and silk could sicken, if not kill.

Did you know that: In 1879, Queen Victoria even ordered that all the green wallpaper in Buckingham Palace be removed, as it made a visting dignitary, who was staying overnight, feel very sick.

Baseball, the dutch won!!!

2011-10-16T18:37:00.003+02:00

What has quilting to do with baseball. Well, on my first (quilting)trip to Marne and Elaine I went to a baseball game. Wich is really impressive!!!!

The Seattle Mariners against the New York Yankees. I'm not really a baseball fan, but sometimes when there is a baseball game on TV (wich is rather rare in the Netherlands) I have a look. This morning I was up early, skyping with Marne, put on the TV, and I accidently saw the final of the World Championship,

the Netherlands against Cuba. And what was more amazing we defeated Cuba.

It was the first time since 1938 that an European Country won. Sorry no picutres of the dutch team, with all those copy rights and law suits, you have to be careful. So just pictures of my first baseball game.

More bits and pieces

2011-10-15T07:37:00.002+02:00

Grace's quilt

I think it's still amazing, more bits and pieces about Grace's quilt and her life are coming to me. Susan (Grace's granddaughter) and Doris (her daughter), you know I met them in july here in the Netherlands, are a wonderful help. Without them I couldn't do this, and write my paper. And of course don't forget Marne!!! She all started this with buying quilttop on superfluity, and got us all connected. Together we're trying to documentate as much information as we can.

Winnie's sewing basket

More family history

Grace's mother was Winnie. In the family they say that Winnie was the real quilter in the family. Her favorite pattern was "Bow-tie". So all her quilts are made with the bow-tie pattern. This quilt she made for Susan in the 50s, it's all hand-pieced.

Sitting in her rocking chair with her sewing basket, sewing quilt blocks. That's how Susan remember her great-grandmother Winnie.

If you want to see Grace's quilt, and hear more about her life, come to Atelier Bep on the 27th november.

Meet Cornelia

2011-10-09T09:06:00.001+02:00

I just finished her, Cornelia. Isn't she cute. In a few weeks she will have company. I'm busy with her sister Cornelia 2. I love the button legs. (You can buy the pattern in the webshop from Crownstitches.)

If you're wondering what I have been doing the last weeks beside Cornelia. Not much quilting I must confess. Look at my dining table! Normally it's filled with quiltprojects, but the last weeks my table is filled with books (and they're not about quilting). Two weeks ago my study (Management Science/Business Administration) started, the next two years this table will be often filled with books instead of fabrics.

Texel

2011-10-04T22:00:00.004+02:00

It's unbelievable, it's already the 4th
october, and I'm still running around in my summerclothes. Although end of the week the temperatures will be back to normal: 11-13 C. The weekend we spend on Texel, an island in the north of the Netherlands in the Wadden Sea. There are 7 little villages. In one of them, Oudeschild, you can find the "Beachcomber" Museum. Really lovely, they also rebuild and refurnished some original houses. And what do you think of "Ecomare", a rehabilitation centre for seals. They're so cute!!!

More about Grace´s quilt

2011-09-28T07:37:00.004+02:00

Grace´s quilt is finished!!! Just to remember you. The quilttop was originally made by Grace Taylor-Turner, in the 1930s, probably 1938/1939 according to her daughter Doris. She used feedsacks, fabric from curtains, dresses, and even traded little pieces of fabrics with friends and neighbours, consider all the different fabrics. For some reason it was never finished. Marne took the quilttop with her for me, and I finished it. Now I´m busy to find as much information about the quilt and Grace as possible. So I´m still in contact with Doris, her daughter, and Susan her granddaughter.

The pattern is called `country roads`. How did the women get the patterns in the 1930s? Well newspapers published them. The Kansas City star actually began printing patterns for quilters in 1926, they carried on this tradition 1961. But the Kansas City Newspaper wasn´t the only one, many other rural papers did the same. How could Grace get her pattern? They they lived close to Kansas City.

Well I asked Susan and she asked her mother. They didn´t read the Kansas Newspaper, but they read a local newspaper out of Topeka, called the "Capper´s weekly". Doris thinks that her mother found the pattern maybe in the Heart and Home section of this weekly newspaper. She remembered that this section often had quiltpatterns. So you see, more bits and pieces about Grace and her quilt.

The `Capper´s weekly` started in 1913 and was ceased in december 1986. From 1906 till 1913 it was called the Kansas Weekly Capital. After 1986 it succeeded as the Capper´s.

Sunbathing dog

2011-09-25T21:58:00.008+02:00

What a suprise, a warm and sunny weekend. Paco enjoyed it. He's feeling very well at the moment. The last weeks he had some problems with hearing, he didn't even hear the doorbell ringing. But for some reason he's hearing quite well again.

St. Marie-aux-Mines (5) The Amish

2011-09-24T16:08:00.017+02:00

Don't worry, this is my last post about St. Marie-aux-Mines. But there was so much to see, that I really had to tell you all about it. There is a special connection between the Amish and St. Marie-aux-Mines, as they say about this village: birth of the Amish. The Amish movement was founded in 1693 by Jacob Amman, who lived here. A very interesting exposition in the church. We had to visit it after 11.30, first there was of course the church services. Different Amish quilts were exposed and they were all for sale. Well on sunday (our last day) we were through our budget but we enjoyed the exhibition. And I think there handquilting is astonishing. Traditionally the Amish make quilts for weddings, births and Amish charities - especially to help member of the community to pay medical bills, since they refuse to take out any insurance. The quilt on the picture is from around 1910-1920, "hole in the barn" is a rare design among Amish quilts. So is the applique quilt, very unusual, normally they don't do applique, too mondaine. In the logcabin quilt (made around 1920), is the yellow really an eye-catcher. Yellow was never used in Amish quilts, but occasionally they found quilts in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. It's motivated by tradition not to use yellow, but none of the Amish can explain why. So perhaps it comes from the Western tradition that this colour symbolises the traitor, the fool, the forger and the adulterous woman.MORE PICTURES TO ENJOY

St. Marie -aux-Mines (4) The dutch

2011-09-24T09:10:00.010+02:00

Two dutch ladies Joke Visser and An Moonen in St. Marie-aux-Mines, with two beautiful collections to admire.

Joke showed a part of her collection, antique counted cross stitch samplers made by schoolchildren from the Netherlands, 18, 19 and 20 century. Young girls had to practise their embroidery skills, and made samplers at school.

An Moonen has an unique collection of dutch antique quilts from the 18, 19 and 20 century. They were exposed in the theatre of Sainte Marie aux Mines. Dieuwke and I visited this exhibition every day. PHOTOS DUTCH QUILTS AND PHOTOS CROSS STITCH

St. Marie-aux-Mines (3) Waggas and Cathy Miller

2011-09-23T06:12:00.018+02:00

There are always new things to learn. One of the exhibitions we really liked was about old australian quilts and waggas. I never heard of waggas. But waggas, sometimes called woggas or woggers, are australian quilts. Originally made by men from wheat bags or 150lb. jute flour bags. The men would sew 4 or 5 unopend bags together to cover them in the night. Can you imagine how heavy this quilts were.

It's not sure where the name "waggas" came from. Maybe from the town Wagga Wagga, or maybe it was the Wagga Wagga Flour Mill from the Milling company in Murrumbidgee, full in production in the 1890s. Nobody knows for sure. Around the turn of the 19c life changed. Sugar, flour and many other goods came 25. and 50lb. bags. Women used these fabrics to make quilts. Some originally waggas where later covered by patchwork. Nowdays the term "wagga" is often used as a sort of generic term to refer to any improvised functional quilt. Pictures: the applique quilt is made in 1860, the wagga quilts is from the 1930s, so is the nursery rhyme quilt. MORE PICTURES

There even is a song about "Waggas" by Cathy Miller. A singing quilter!!!! Don't miss her on the next exhibition, she's really good, and her songs are really fun, with lots and lots of quiltingjokes. My favorite is the Wagga Song, I did put a short film on: YOUTUBE WAGGA SONG , and the text of the choir so you can sing it too.

I need another wagga.
When the wind blows in the door.
In need another wagga.
When the cold creeps on the floor.
Your man has gone, there's no more wood.
The kids are growing thin.
I'll turning my hand to winter's call.
And make another wagga. "

Sainte Marie aux Mines (2) La Haute Grange

2011-09-20T20:56:00.011+02:00

We found this beautiful B&B about 20 minutes from St-Marie-aux-Mines. We were very warmly welcomed by Margaret (originally coming from Scotland) and Philippe. Our evenings we spend quilting in the living room, (chasing all the other guests away, especially the men, with our talking about quilts, quilts, quilts .... : ). Why go out? For breakfast homemade scones, and every day different tableware for breakfast. MORE PHOTOS. A lovely place to be, and relax after an exhausting day of quilt exhibitions.

Writing my blog I'm listening to Cathy Miller, a singing quilting from Canada. More about her later!

Sainte Marie aux Mines (1)

2011-09-19T07:53:00.008+02:00

It's good that I got another day free from work (monday). Dieuwke and I spend an amazing weekend in Sainte Marie Aux Mines (France) for the Quilt Exhibition "Carrefour du Patchwork". The exhibtion is divided over 4 little villages, sometimes in a church, sometimes in a villa, chapel or theatre. So much experiences that I can tell you all in one post. So several will follow. The pictures are just a short impression of what we did and saw. Did we buy a lot? No not really, I didn't buy any fabric, but I did a buy an old baby crib quilt from around 1850, so that was easy, no budget left. And did you ever heard of Cathy Miller, well we didn't, she a singing quilter, lovely songs (folk style), so we bought three CD's. And don't your love our B&B?

Holiday continues .....

2011-09-14T20:21:00.005+02:00

..... tomorrow morning at 5.30 a.m. Dieuwke and I are leaving for the Quilt Exhibition in France, St. Marie aux Mines. Five little villages filled with quilts. We found a very nice B&B, close to St. Marie aux Mines "La haute grange". Life can be so good.

In the few days I was at home between Paris and St. Marie aux Mines, I was busy with washing and ironing. But I even managed to make a blouse/shirt. Doesn't this french fabric looks sweet with all the roses. I was very proud I made the pattern myself and for the part around the neck I just used a binding. Works very well.

Experiences in Paris

2011-09-11T19:39:00.013+02:00

Tomorrow we're going home. We had a lovely weekend in Paris (actually 2,5 day). Here are some of our experiences. We had a rather cheap but very good hotel, quiet and clean rooms. Breakfast was pretty good, not very french. For us dutch they even had cheese. For the americans: serials with milk. Free acces to the internet, and a big public parking space under the hotel, public transport around the corner. For us dutch easy to reach because it's in the north part of Paris. If you do Paris by bike like we did, you can park your bike in the luggageroom in the lobby of the hotel. The hotel is next to the fleamarket (open on saturday and sunday), we spend several hours there exploring antique shops, it's an amazing place. The disadvantage of this hotel, it's not the nicest neighbourhood, there are a few restaurants easy to walk. We didn't visit the museum Louvre or the Eiffel Tower, longs rows, if you really want to visit those places then it's a good idea to make reservations on the internet at home. Safes you lots of times. Instead of long rows we visited the Paris Opera, beautiful inside, and only a 8-minute row. I especially loved their floortiles and ceilings. Cycling experiences: it's crowded, but with our GPS we could easily find our way to the "poi" (points of interest). In the 2,5 days we were here, we cycled almost along every interesting place. Paris is rather flat, only when you cycling around the Sacre Coeur (situated on a hill with a beautiful view) you need your gears. Although they say there is 400 km of cyclepaths, we didn't found them. Most of the time we could use the lanes for the busses. There are a few separate cyclepaths but that's more an expection. At the Tourist Office you can get a free map with cycling tours, but it's not very detailed, we would recommend a GPS. The Bois de Boulogne, is vey nice place if you want to get out of the crowded streets. We had a very nice picknick there. Conclusion: we loved exploring Paris by bike

Les Puces (The fleas)

2011-09-10T18:15:00.006+02:00

The most famous fleamarket of Paris (and just around the corner of our hotel), it covers seven hecates with booths and little shops. You can find treasures here, but not cheap treasures anymore. I have seen beautiful antique clothes and fabrics, but very very expensive. I even found some french quilts. Well the good news is because they're so expensive, that I didn't buy anything. So no new antique project from Paris. If you're walking around, it feels like you're in a kind of maze. But oh so lovely.

Quiltshops in Paris?

2011-09-10T08:02:00.005+02:00

Oh, yes there are quiltshops in Paris, at least two. One of them we visited yesterday, "Le Rouvray" it's close to the Notre Dame, and thanks to Rob his GPS we found it very easily. A lovely little shop, beautiful french fabrics, and a whole collection of antique quilts (wich I didn't buy). And shelves filled with old crockery. What's that with quilters? Why do we often love fabric and crockery.

Paris by bike

2011-09-09T21:59:00.010+02:00

Rob wanted a cycling holiday, I wanted to go to Paris. So we made a compromise: cycling in Paris.

It's a very good way to explore the city. Although some cyling experience is necessary. You have to have eyes everywhere. Lots and lots of traffic, crowded roads with cars, and everybody is just driving around like there is nobody else. Traffic rules, what traffic rules.

On the other hand we did explore neighbourhoods we normally wouldn't come.

Tomorrow we start with the famous Flea market, then go to the Eifeltower, Sacre-Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, and then probably to the Bois de Boulogne (big parc). The weather will be pretty good, the sky will be mostly covered with clouds but it will be dry. Our Etap-hotel is just like Brugge, clean and very efficient. And Marne, you wouldn't see the difference, they just look all the same.

First things first ...

2011-09-09T21:31:00.006+02:00

.....
the last week of our holiday is beginning. For some reason not as much quilting as you would expected with already two weeks of holidays. A few Tilda projects, a little purse and some sewing at my hour glasses. I finished them all now, and started with the border. My parents are taking care of Paco (our dog), so we moved to Paris for the weekend.

Holiday impression

2011-09-06T08:15:00.009+02:00

The first week of our three weeks holiday we spend in Germany in the Wirftall. We couldn't believe it, but we had sun and blue skies for the whole week, so good after this rainy summer in the Netherlands. Most of our time we spend making "walks" (8-10 km), I think the paws of our dog are a little bit shorter after this week. some typical german things we did:

Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) at 16.00 p.m. Bratwurst (sausage) on sunday morning listening to the local band, Schnitzels. Friday we're going to Germany or Belgium for a 5-day cycling tour, my parents will take care of Paco. But it's all depending the weather.

Weekend Quilting Report

2011-08-28T19:05:00.024+02:00

It's amazing, this awfull weather here in the Netherlands. Rain, rain, rain!! I'm so glad I'm quilter, if not this weather would probably make me really depressed.

What's going on here?

Dieuwke and I spend our saturday afternoon and evening together quilting. She finished the top and back of a Petra Prins Quilts. That 's why we need doors in our house (to hang over your quilts). And we even got it basted .
I was working on my Staphorster Quilt, I'm really going to like the border, although the hourglasses are pretty small, about 2 inches, I used three inch squares to make them. I need about 200-250 hourglasses.

Crazy Quilt
Today, sunday I started repairing one of my quilt treasures, send by my special collector in Seattle ; ). It's a crazy quilttop made in the second half of the 19th century. I don't know anything about restoring of repairing antique quilttops. Just learning by doing it. The top is in pretty good condition, although some fabrics are really worn out. There is always the choice between leave it, or replace it. I didn't want to replace the fabrics, because I want to keep the quilt as orginally as possible. So I think this is the best solution. What makes this top so special is that there is so much to look at: the embroidery, embroidered flowers, names, dates.

For Sophie.....

2011-08-27T07:22:00.009+02:00

she's our niece, and she will be having her 6th birthday in a few days. So I made this little bag. You can use it for your pyjamas or just something else. On the card is a little poem, I bought it in the Childrens Book Museum, it's orginally in dutch but I try to translate because it's so funny.

Ze had een jurk
met bloemknoppen aan
en toen ze in de zon ging staan
zijn al die knopjes
één voor één open gegaan.

She wear a dress with flowers buds,
and then she went into the sun,
and all the flower buds went open,
one by one.

Sometimes....

2011-08-25T02:49:00.006+02:00

....... it just takes some time to find the right border. As I told you in one of my earlier posts. This is a 40s-50s traditional costume fabric from Spakenburg. I didn't want to cut up the fabric in pieces. The size is about: 41 inches x 59 inches, 104 cm x 150 cm. So just a border around, that seems not too complicated. I bought traditional "chintz" fabric at the Haan en Wagenmaker. Using half-square triangles seems very traditional consider the book of An Moonen about dutch quilt history. Many old dutch quilts just have a big one piece centre fabric with a border. I arranged the half-square triangles around the quilt. Hmmm not what I expected. Be brave: cut them again, make hourglasses. Hmmm, the pattern is much better, and it's still a very traditional pattern for dutch quilts. Hmmmm, I still wasn't very happy with my choice. I don't know: is it the fabric, is it the colourscheme? Like a friend of my said: too many medium colours. Well maybe try other fabrics, I got these in my stock. Hmmmm, it seems that these colours make me happy, and make the quilt very warm. Put the squares on point, not bad, use a cream fabric for the side, sounds good, and a small velvet purple ribbon between the border and the centre. Well let's give it a try.

It's so dutch ....

2011-08-21T23:06:00.005+02:00

to complain about the weather. And I'm not complaining quickly about the weather, but I'm sick and tired of this dreadful weather. I really longing for some sunshine. The weatherman promised us a very nice, warm and sunny weekend. Friday and saturday wasn't too bad, but not what they promised us. Sunday morning, Rob, Paco and I went for a walk, there were some clouds... but we were confident. This would be a nice day. Well it started nice, and then half-way of our walk, the clouds were getting darker and darker, and then there was thunder, and we were in the middle of the heathland/moor (heide). And then the rain came, lots of rain. Soaked and wet we came back at our car, and went straight home to The Hague. Back to my sewing machine ; ).

Proudly present ...

2011-08-20T08:08:00.007+02:00

..... my Staphorster Quilttop. Yesterday evening I finished the top. I used orginial dutch costume fabrics from the '50s. These fabrics were wear by the women from Staphorst and Rouveen. I made 244 hourglasses, 144 for the middle, and 24 for each border, and 4 in the corners. For the small dark blue border I used fabric from Westfalen. I used 5 inch squares for the hourglass. I'm very happy with this second quilt of my collection "old dutch costume fabric" quilts. Number three and four are waiting. At the moment I still have "lots" of time for quilting. End of september I'm starting with a 2-years evening-course Business Administration / Management Science (Bedrijfskunde). A busy two years will be ahead combining my job, my study and my quilt projects.

Fabric hunting ....

2011-08-19T21:00:00.011+02:00

Quilters are always looking around for fabric. It's our nature, we can smell quiltshops and fabric long distance. Today I found these fabric treasures in a little shop. They're the shoulder parts of the traditional costumes they wear in Spakenburg. I need to unpick them.

Block on point

2011-08-15T15:12:00.009+02:00

I'm busy with my Staphorster Quilt, yesterday Dieuwke and I discussed during our two hour drive about the quilttop. Well this is the result, a small blue border, wich represents the dark blue skirts and jackets the Staphorster women wear.
The only thing is that my quilt will be bigger than I thought, so I need more "hour glasses", well there we go another 36. In the middle are 144 hourglasses, and 48 hourglasses for each side.

For the corner I want "block on point". I'm always having trouble with the size ..... but not anymore thanks to Billie Lauder (who is really good mathematic). This is how you do it:

Corner triangle: finished size of block / 1.414 + .875 = size of one square, one square is two corners.

Quilt Atelier Joke

2011-08-15T09:25:00.006+02:00

Leaving on sunday morning at 8.00 clock in the morning. That's pretty early for a sunday morning. But it's almost two hour driving to Dieuwke's aunt Joke. Two or three times a year we have a quiltbee together: Willy, Joke, Dieuwke and me. Sometimes in Dalfsen, sometimes in The Hague. We really had a great time. Quilting together is so fun, and of course we had to celebrate two birthdays. I had a very productive day, and finished my top (the one with the blocks, made of jelly roll). And like most of this summer: it was real quilting weather: rain, rain, rain, around 17.00 it stopped and we finally saw the sun.

Childrens Book Museum

2011-08-13T07:25:00.006+02:00

We have a busy weekend. Yolande, one of our best friends, is staying at our house with her two boys (almost 13 and 16). It still isn't summer weather over here, so we decided to visit the Childrens Book Museum in The Hague (next to Central Station in the Royal Library). For some reason I thought, even that I'm a book lover, that it would be a little bit boring. Well that's far away from the truth. It's a very exciting interactive museum for kids and grown-ups. Walking through the world "Papiria" we had to conquer the Ink-greed monster, by playing games, collecting words, and making your own story on the computer.

Dutch quilts

2011-08-11T07:18:00.001+02:00

Want to know what I did on saturday? Just click here.

It's growing ....

2011-08-08T06:54:00.006+02:00

..... my Staphorster Quilt, made of traditional costume fabrics from the 50s and 60s. It's going steady, this cheerful quilt. I have now made about 100 hourglasses, but still another 100 to go. The hourglasses are made of 5 inch squares, finished size: about 4 inch. After all that handquilting (Grace's quilt is almost finished, only two borders), I was in the mood for some machine sewing.

By the way: it's still quilting weather here in the Netherlands. Dieuwke is back from France, tonight quiltbee.

Quilting Weather Report

2011-08-07T14:07:00.003+02:00

It's very good quilting weather today.

Hello little bear ...

2011-08-06T21:20:00.008+02:00

.... you're almost finished, in a few days you will be moving to the Juliana Childerens Hospital in The Hague. On the 17th june 2011, 70 people cycled from The Hague to Texel, 140 km (87 miles). They raised 20.000 euro to buy bears.

Bye bye .....

2011-08-04T21:07:00.003+02:00

see you in Seattle next year.

Cycling

2011-08-01T20:44:00.009+02:00

Still two days to go before Marne and Elaine are leaving. Oh our life will be so quiet after they're gone. Yesterday we did a cyclingtour. Through the Hague Woods to House Den Bosch (here lives Queen Beatrix). Then Wassenaar, we saw some nice houses for sale, but they will be probably over budget. From Wassenaar we went to Meijendel, and then back through the dunes to Scheveningen. I'm still amazed, living in a "big" town, how many nice cyclingtours we can make here.

Weather report
It was suprisingly well on sunday. We even got some blue sky. I think we haven't seen blue skies for several weeks. I thought this would be the worst summer ever. But no, the facts tell us different:

In 1913 the average temperature in july was: 15C (59F). This year it was: 15.9C (60.6F). Seems we have no reason to complain ; ).

In 1954 lots and lots of wind, there were only 138 hours of sun. Normally it's: 206. This year we got 143 hours of sun.

But the worst summer ever must be the summer of 1919, 103 hours of sun, and days with temperatures around 11C (51.8F).

Rotterdam

2011-07-31T07:02:00.011+02:00

This is the last weekend that Marne and Elaine are in the Netherlands, wednesday they're leaving, back to Seattle. I don't want to think to much about it. So this weekend we visited Rotterdam and Kinderdijk. In Rotterdam we visited the Cubic Houses build in the eighties, and in Kinderdijk we visited windmills build in 1740.

You could say: we go from one extreme to the other.

Rotterdam is one of the biggest harbors in the world, and a mix of traditional and modern architecture. On the 14 mai 1940, the city center of Rotterdam was bombed by the Germans. Around 1 square mile was almost leveled, 24.978 houses, 24 churches, 2.300 stores, 775 warehouses and 62 schools were destroyed. That meant a lot of building after the second world war.

Click here: PHOTO-ALBUM

Around 14.00 we (my parents, M&E, Rob, Paco (our dog) and I ) went on board of the "Nehalennia" to Kinderdijk. It's very nice and quiet way to travel.

What's on the menu today: cycling through the dunes.

Cubic Houses

2011-07-31T06:58:00.009+02:00

The Cubic Houses are designed by the Architect Piet Blom in the seventies, and build between 1982-1984 in Rotterdam. The concept behind these houses is that he tries to create a forest by each cube representing an abstract tree. He wanted people to have the feeling: living in a village in a town. We visited one of the houses. They're about 100 square metres. Two steep stairs to get you on the first floor: living room and kitchen, then the second floor: bathroom, bedroom and a study. On the third floor you got your own: three hut under the roof. Imagine living in this house, you have to have a very creative mind. No skyline when you look out of the windows. All the windows are situated that you see the sky or see the ground. All the outside walls are lopsided, not very easy when you want to hang up some curtains. Wanna buy one? They're about 200.000 euros.

Kinderdijk

2011-07-31T06:48:00.009+02:00

Nineteen windmills, build around 1740, still doing their work: keep the Albasserwaard dry. Once a rough and wet peat bog, but eventually colonised and reclaimed by man. Kinderdijk is about 25 kilometres from Rotterdam, and is situated between the rivers Lek and Merwede. Nowhere in the Netherlands you can find so many windmills as here.

A cheerful Staphorster Quilt

2011-07-26T06:52:00.006+02:00

What are you doing early in the morning, when you're out of your bed? I'm really a morning person. I'm happy, lively, full of energy. Often I'm awake early (6 a.m. isn't an exception), and then I can't stay in my bed.

Time to make a cup of tea, put on the radio, and do some sewing before I leave for work. This is my new sewing machine patchwork. Every evening I do some handquilting on Grace's quilt, so it's more then halfway now, but it's good to have some variaty. This will be a very cheerful quilt, the fabrics are from traditional dutch costumes from Staphorst and Rouveen, period: 1950-1960. I'm always a little bit suprised, this little villages in the Netherlands have strong traditional conservative traditions, about what you can or can't do. But the fabrics are often very cheerful.

Adventures in Madurodam

2011-07-24T07:17:00.004+02:00

Madurodam is the smallest town of the Netherlands. Literally! It's build on a scale 1:25 cm. Madurodam is named after George Maduro, a student from Curacao, he showed much courage during mai 1940 (starting of World War II) to defend The Hague. Later he died in 1945 in Dachau. The idea for a miniature-city started in 1929. For me and my sister it was several years ago that we were in Madurodam, probably when we were kids. Now we took her kids to Madurodam. There is so much to see, an airport, several train stations, canals, churches, residence buildings, flowers and the ship "The Rotterdam". My father worked in the sixties on this ship as an engineer.

Dear quilters .....

2011-07-22T21:09:00.010+02:00

....... (especially from the Netherlands), this will maybe come as suprise to you, but Zutphen isn't only known for "Petra Prins Patchwork". There is more to discover in this cute little town on the banks of the river IJssel.

Last wednesday, Marne, Elaine, Dieuwke and I did a tour through Zutphen. PHOTO-IMPRESSION. We visited several gates/places/courtyards (hofjes) where often religious or spinsters lived, and even nowdays still live. During this walk, that you can buy for 3 euro at the Tourist Office (opposite Central Station) we came along the Saint Walburgis Church.
This church is famous for his library, called "The Librije". It's one of the three libraries in the world from the 16th century. It was a public library. The building and the interior library have remained almost unchanged throughout the ages. What makes it so special is that the books are chained to the desks. Some book have chained to the reading desks since the time of foundation. The founders of this library were Conrad Slindewater and Herman Berner. They believed that, if people would read the right books, they would be cured of their errors and become true bleive of the Christian faith. to him this meant the Roman Catholic Faith. The red door leads to the library.

And my dear quiltfriends, don't worry, if you walk the "hofjeswandeling/walk", you will pass the Quiltshop of Petra Prins. Better not tell your non-quilting partners.

Grace's quilt

2011-07-17T20:54:00.009+02:00

Today was just amazing. You all know I'm working on Grace's quilt. Well today I met the daughter of Grace: Doris. She's a lovely 85 year old woman, and the eldest daughter of Grace. Grace was born the 11th december 1902 or 1903 (they're not sure, they lived in the country, there wasn't any registration except in the family bible wich gives two dates). She was a real farmers daughter. She and her husband Lewis had a farm in Kansas. They had crops, like beans, corn, peas, alfa, strawberries etc. and also some animals: cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and sometimes turkeys. Life wasn't easy in the 1930's. Grace became 90 years old, and died in 1992 of cancer. The farm is still in the family. It feels very special to finish this quilttop that Grace started in the '30s.

On this picture (left) you see three generations of women with the quilt of Grace. On the left, sitting is Doris, standing on the left Susan, her daughter and standing on the right Leah, her granddaughter Leah. And then there is me sitting on the right. I will need to spend some hours with this quilt, but I hope to finish it before autumn.
How did we all met? Well Susan is friend of Marne and Elaine. Leah is studying in the Netherlands, and Susan and Doris were visiting her. Marne bought the quilttop as a present for me at the superfluity at the church. Small world.

Quilt challenges

2011-07-17T11:40:00.007+02:00

That's the problem with us quilt shopping girls. There is always fabric that we really need, and there are always new projects. Two quilt challenges are calling me, the first is Grace's quilt, the second are my "Staphorster" fabrics. With all the bad weather here in the Netherland (some people like myself says that they just got the wrong date 14th october instead of 14 july), and I'm sorry to say the next two weeks aren't looking to good either, there will be quilting time. Grace's quilt, I'm doing hand quilting on this 1930th quilt, and I'm almost half way. Then I bought some very nice 1950's costume fabrics in Rouveen. They're original and very cheerful, but I'm not sure what pattern I will use. Somebody has a suggestion? Before I forget, I got some exciting news about my "antique quilt collection", but I can't tell you now. Just wait and read my blog.

Sunday eve

2011-07-11T07:25:00.004+02:00

If you think our weekend was over. No way. On sunday evening we were all invited for dinner at Dieuwke, Eric and Willem. Dieuwke cooked us an indonesian dinner, with several meat dishes, like beef, chicken, vegetables, fruits, eggs and sateh-sauce (peanutbutter sauce, very popular in the Netherlands). Dieuwke really is a great cook, so we eat more then we should. The weather was lovely, so we moved the dining table outside into the garden.

Life is so good

2011-07-11T06:54:00.005+02:00

... at the moment. This morning Rob and I made a bike-tour (about 60 km). Me on my new e-bike, wich is really fantastic. Cycling against wind? What wind? There are always new things to discover. So we cycled along this "strange" hill. Bloedberg (literally translated blood mountain). Bloedberg was constructed during the crisis 1935-1939. It was an unemployement reliefs works by the local county. Sand from the whole area was carried with wheelbarrows to this place. The hill is about 11 metres (12,5 yards) high and is a belvedere.

Staphorst and Rouveen

2011-07-10T22:20:00.010+02:00

Saturday at 8.50 all the girls (Dieuwke, Marne, Elaine and myself) were stuffed in the car on our way north to aunt Joke (Dieuwke's aunt) for a visit. She lives close to Staphorst and Rouveen, very conservative and traditional little villages. We were very warmly welcomed by Joke and Marco, and had tour through their house, wich has all kind of treasures. Joke is also quilter. Just a short report and an photo-impression (click on the link to see all the pictures) of what we did: lunch, quiltshop, museum, second-hand-shop and a really fantastic dinner "bami", cooked by Marco. (We keep him!). I found some lovely old traditional costume fabrics, more about it later. Back home at: 23.00h.

This farm is typical Staphorst, the green stands for: young life, nature, the white stands for: innocence, purity, the blue would protect the family against disasters. Above the door you found the "tree of life", it's and old germanic fertility symbol. In Staphorst and Rouveen are still 500 women who wear the traditional costumes. A few men wear them also, but the youngest is 83 years old. One of the things Staphorst is well known about is painting little polkadots on furniture and clothes, it's called: Staphorster stipwerk. They don't know why they started it, probably to cheer up their black clothes and their furniture. The originally colours are: white, yellow, blue, red and green, painted on black satin. The technique isn't very difficult, you only need: paint and nails in different sizes.

Jelly roll quilt

2011-07-07T17:29:00.006+02:00

This quilt is finished. It's made from a "jelly roll" I got from Marne. The pattern is very simple, and you can make two blocks of every strip. I choose three strips for the middle, cut them in 2,5 inch squares. From the other strips I cut:

2 squares of 2,5 x 2,5 inch
2 rectangels of 6,5 x 2,5 inch

The finished size of the quiltblock is 6,5 x 6,5 inch (including 0.25 inch seam allowance).
From the leftover strips you can make more blocks and combine the different strips. For the sashings I used muslin (cotton). You can make the sashing as wide if you like, depending how many blocks and depending the size of your quilt. For the back I didn't use cotton, but I used a brown corduroy. The quilt is partly handly quilted (country stitches) and partly done with the machine. Now the quilt is on his way to my uncle, he's rather ill, so I thought he and his partner could use a quilt.

Two of my favorite quiltshops

2011-07-07T07:07:00.005+02:00

Well, just like Marne I'm having a hard time to catch up with my blog, there is so much going on. I haven't even write about Munster and Bad Bentheim, beautiful towns in Germany, and the lovely castle we visited. But Marne did, so have a look at her blog.

We didn't do a lot of quiltingstuff, but we managed to find time to visit two of my favorite quiltshops. The "100 rozen" in the Wallstraat in Deventer, beautiful location in the old centre, full of history. And then on sunday we went to Atelier Bep, totally the opposite. Her shop is located in the country, in the old pig shed, surrounded by a beautiful garden. Here I found a nice collection of fabrics to go with the fabrics I bought in Spakenburg.

And dear blogreaders, I promise you, my next post will be about quilting.

Bolwerkwerksmolen

2011-07-07T06:34:00.008+02:00

On our way back from Bad Bentheim to our summerhouse. We made a stop at Epse (small town close to Deventer). Here I grew up, went to primary school. My parents are still living here. (That's my mum with M&E on the picture).

On the bank of the river IJssel, close to Deventer, you can find the Bolwerksmill. It was build in 1863 by the brother Elfrink. It's a sawmill and still working. With the little ferry we crossed the river to the centre of Deventer.

http://www.bolwerksmolen.nl/

Deventer Koek (kind of biscuit/cake)

2011-07-03T11:11:00.008+02:00

Old guildbooks tell us that Jacob Bussink started his bakery in 1593. He was specialized in "Deventer Koek" als known as "Bussinker Koek". On the Brink 84 is since 1958 the Deventer Koek House, a shop and restaurant where you can still buy the original cake/biscuit.

A dutch sport: klootschieten

2011-07-02T08:22:00.017+02:00

Marne and Elaine's entertainment programm is pretty filled up. But this is one of the things we really had to taught them: klootschieten (literally translated shooting testicles). It's a very old dutch traditional ball sport, wich date back from around the year 1300 - 1500. Now it's mostly played in the east part of the Netherlands. Most of the time is played on public roads and paths. You have to take care of course, you don't want to hit anything with your kloot (ball made of wood and filled with lead).

How does it works

You need two teams. Each team can be 2 -? people, doesn't care. Each team has a "kloot". The finish can be a spot on the public road, mostly 1 or 2 miles away from your start. You can just say: the finish will be on the corner of that and that road. Team 1 throw the ball underhand as far as they can, and try to stay on the road. Then team 2 throw the ball, and they try to pass to team 1. If they pass team 1, team 1 has to throw again, if they don't pass team 2 has to throw again. Well the idea is to reach the finish in less throws then the other team. You see very simple. MORE PHOTOS

One of Caro and Rob's rules: if you throw it the mud or water you have to take it yourself!

We arrived in ...

2011-07-01T17:38:00.008+02:00

...... Bad Bentheim, just across the German border. Earlier in the afternoon we visited Münster (for the quilters among us, here is the shop with all the Westfalen fabrics).

The most famous place in Bad Bentheim is the Castle, the history goes back to the year 1020. It's partly open for the public. The distinguished family zu Bentheim und Steinfurt is still living there. The famous dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael (1628 - 1682) was fascinated by the castle and made many paintings.

Tomorrow we're heading back for the Netherlands. Tonight a pizza, because we already had the german "schnitzels" for lunch. Something very typical german: Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and cake) around 15.30 in the afternoon.

Traditional Costume Fabrics

2011-06-30T23:14:00.009+02:00

You know I'm crazy about old fabrics, to make quilts, and my collection of "antique" quilts is slowly growing.

Last year I bought some old traditional costume fabrics to make my "snowball quilt". Today I took it with me to show them. Of course Marne and I couldn't leave the museum without "new" fabrics. (Marne's fabrics are on the right, my fabrics are left). It's all blue, purple and flowers.

Think of all the possibilities to make a quilt with this fabrics, and remembering this day.

And then we discovered those jackets, traditional costumes, they're about 50-60 years old. Quilting Twin sisters?

Spakenburg

2011-06-30T22:35:00.007+02:00

It's hard to catch up with my blog, so many things are going on. And we're having such fun all together. PHOTOS SPAKENBURG

Today we went to Spakenburg to the Quilt and Traditional Costume Museum. I think it's my favorite museum in the Netherlands! It's very small, only three rooms, it's all run by volunteers, but they do such a lovely job, and you can have a private tour, and they tell you all about the different costumes. Especially for the mourning costumes they're special rules. For example, when a relative dies you wear for 5 years mourning clothes, and then for 7 monthes another mourning costume with lighter colours and then another 3 weeks another colour. When you go to the funeral you wear black, completely black, even the children. After the funeral you wear different kind of purples, depening if it's your husband, grandma, brother, niece, aunt etc, the purple is more dark. The man in the museum told us, when you have a big family you probably wear your all life mourning costumes. Remember, 5 years! Doesn't that sound depressing.

Marne and I went mad with all the beautifull fabrics, and we both bought something special. More about it later.

And if you think you can see this traditional costumes only in the museum. Well look at the lady with the shoppingchart.

Palace Het Loo

2011-06-30T21:59:00.011+02:00

We (Marne, Elaine, Rob and me) are hanging around on the Veluwe (it's in the middle of the Netherlands where our summerhouse is). We're having a good time with visiting all interesting places. Wednesday afternoon we went to "Palace Het Loo". PHOTOS .
The palace was a residence of the House of Orange-Nassau from the 17th century until the death of Queen Wilhelmina in 1962. It's a beautiful palace, inside there are many rooms you can visit, like the bedroom of Queen Wilhelmina with all her toys. And in the stables there are many wagons/carriages, like the white carriage that drove Wilhelmina and Henry when they died to the New Church in Delft. Or the carriage Wilhelmina did her painting, and the toy-car Prince Claus (married to Queen Beatrix) made for his sons Willem-Alexander, Constantijn and Friso.

Very interesting was the exhibition about "Princess Maxima, 10 years in the Netherlands" , unfortunetaley we couldn't take any pictures, but it was so nice to see her weddingdress, and other clothes she did wear at special events. Want to know something interesting about her? She got "big feet", size 42 (9,5 USA).

Quiltshopping is so fun ....

2011-06-27T23:36:00.010+02:00

.. on every day, but especially on a very rainy saturday. Marne and I had to check out this new quiltshop in Naaldwijk. And its such a sweet shop, we spend almost two hours, looking around, drinking coffee and buying fabrics and patterns. I think that's rather typical of the most dutch quiltshops, there is always a table for coffee and tea.

Delft

2011-06-26T07:45:00.008+02:00

Here are a few pictures of Marne and Elaine's house in Delft. It such a cute house. Don't you love their tiles in the window. Their house is along the canal right to the center. Yesterday we wanted to visit the gypsy festival on the market, but the weather was so bad, that we decided to go home and drink some wine and eat some cheese (and Hema rookworst - sausage). Because no one was in the mood for cooking dinner, we did something very dutch: Chinese take-away. : )

Update last week

2011-06-25T08:41:00.007+02:00

What happened? For some reason it seems we had a rather busy week. Lots of things are going on. Saturday morning I picked up Rob in Den Helder (far north-west of the Netherlands), and then we drove all through the Netherlands, to the far east to celebrate Rob's mum 65 birthday in the afternoon.

Sunday we went to Martin and Lies, so my Stone Soup Quilt got a new home. They were very pleased with it.

Monday we did a house inspection in Delft. Marne and Elaine moved to a very cute "little" house in Delft. I forgot my camera so for pictures just click on the link. Then on tuesday we decided it would be nice to buy a second e-bike. Rob got a e-bike for several years and he loves it, and now Paco (our dog) is getting older and not in the mood for very long long walks, we can do more cycling. The bike was delivered yesterday. So we suprised Marne and Elaine at 21.15 in the evening with a short visit. Their temporarily house is only 10 kilometers away from ours. And then I forgot I went to a musical friday afternoon. Wich was really nice, it's called: Crazy Hospital. Yolande's son Peter (12 years old) is leaving primary school. In the afternoon aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and grandparents were welcome to watch their musical.

Any quilting going on. Yes of course! I basted "Grace's quilt", you know my '30's quilttop Marne gave me. I started quilting, just to see what it will look. Pictures will follow. I now have to find a binding. There is a new quiltshop in Naaldwijk, rather close to The Hague, maybe I have to check that out, because it will be a rainy saturday morning. Of course Dieuwke and I spend some quilting time together this week. Monday evening our quilting bee will be at Marne and Elaine in Delft. It will be a warm day in the Netherlands, so their garden will be a nice place to sit. And hurrah, I got holiday for a whole week.

Den Haag - Texel ....

2011-06-17T22:01:00.004+02:00

..... 146 kilometers of cycling. Rob and Tale made it. They left with 60 other people at 9.00 a.m this morning, around 17.30 they arrived at Den Burg (Texel). The cyclingtour is to sponsor bears for the Juliana Childrens Hospital in The Hague.

http://www.denhaagtexel.nl/

Tierelantijntjes

2011-06-10T20:50:00.005+02:00

Bagatelle, floune, fluff, frill, fringe, frippery, frivolity, furbelow, ruffle. If you're in Gent. Don't forget to visit this shop.

Brugge and Gent

2011-06-10T19:26:00.010+02:00

What happened this week? Marne and Elaine are still here in the Netherlands, so we spend our wednesday evening quiltbee together at Dieuwke. Thursday morning we drove to Gent and in the afternoon we drove to Brugge. The weather was pretty good, although this morning it looked rather grey and cloudy. But after our boattrip the sun began to shine and we even had our lunch outside. We spend two lovely days together. Brugge and Gent are really worthwhile visiting, although the cities are totally different. Now we (Rob, Paco and me) are back in our summerhouse, and Marne and Elaine went back to Oegstgeest, making a stop in Middelburg to visit their friend Leah. (She's the great granddaughter of the lady who made the quilttop Marne gave me). This weekend: maybe some quilting, and a lot of studying, I got an exam on tuesday.

PHOTOS GENT

PHOTOS BRUGGE

The "Remise"

2011-06-06T06:52:00.012+02:00

The Hague got lot of nice suprises. With Marne and Elaine visiting us, we learn new things about our own town. Like this museum. The weather wasn't what they had predicted, and because their new house in Oegstgeest is close to The Hague, we called them to spend a fun afternoon together in the Museum for Public Transport. They have several old trams, and we made a tour with a tram of 1921 through The Hague. Very noisy, very shaky, and no comfortable seats. Half way we switched to a tram of the '60's, much more comfort. This museum is really fun (and it's free, wich is very undutch, you only pay 3 euros for a tramride). Isn't that amazing. I think we will visit this museum more often. The Remise (building were they keepstore the trams) was build in 1906. It was originally build to do service and repair for the electric trams in The Hague. The building was used till 1983. In 1989 it became a museum. The museum is only open on sunday.

More information:
The Hague Public Transport Museum.

On the move

2011-06-06T06:40:00.002+02:00

Saturday at 10 a.m. Marne and Elaine moved to Oegstgeest. For some reason they even managed to multiply their luggage. You see the Albert Hein bag, it wasn't there when they arrived.

A new antique quilt

2011-06-03T19:03:00.006+02:00

You all know I love Antique Quilt Tops. I really love to restore them and turn them into new quilts. Marne is helping me. She bought this lovely quilttop at the Superfluity at her Church. It's partly made of feedsack, and it's made around 1930-1940. It's in pretty good condition, considering it age. It got a few spots and some loose seams, wich can be easily repaired. The quilt measures about: 68 inch x 80 inch.

But what's so interesting about this quilt she knew who made it, and suprisingly I met her granddaughter Susan and greatgranddaughter Leah in june 2009 at Marne.

This is what we know about the quilt now, but I hope to figure out some more.

The quilt was made by Grace Taylor-Turner, 70 or 80 years ago. Some of the white and all of the pink is made of feedsack. Feedsacks they used for their cattle and their piggs. Grace lived in Ottawa, Kansas. Doris Sullivant (daughter of Grace) lives now in Lawrence (Kansas). Doris her daughter is Susan Hack who lives in Seattle (she's the lady I met in june 2009, because her daughter Leah went for studing to the Netherlands).

More suprises are coming. Susan and Doris are probably coming to the Netherlands in july to visit Leah. It would be wonderful to meet them, and learn more about the live of Grace. I still got lots and lots of questions.

Castle Cannenburch : quilt exposition

2011-06-03T17:35:00.015+02:00

"Quilts van Goede Huijse, van noodzaak tot tijdverdrijf". That's the name of the exposition, it means something like: in the past they need to make quilts, to keep warm, now we do it because we like to do it (pass time). I think from all the Quilt Expositions I know, this expo in Vaassen has the most beautiful location. Although I must say the exposition was a little bit disappointed, lots and lots of modern quilts, just one antique quilt, and a few traditional quilts. What happened to traditional quilts? Lots of quilters like myself love them. But the castle itself is very beautiful, with lots of old paintings, furniture and crockery.

We met several people, Mattie, Simone, Jeltje and Bep, wich was really nice, and we did a little bit of quiltshopping. I couldn't resist this "sewing kit". Now I only have to make it. There also was interesting stall about dying fabrics, they do workshops. I think I would like to try that once. Unfortunetaley you weren't allowed to make any pictures in the Castle. The only quilt on a picture is the quilt hanging outside.
History of the castle In 1543 the dutch field marshall Maarten van Rossum bought the ruins of a house. He did a lot (re)building and in 1555 his nephew Hendrik van Isendoorn á Blois finished it. In 1865 the last heir of the family died. Then it got several owners. After World War II, the Foundation "Geldersche Kastelen" got hands on it. They restored it, and now it's open for public.

Dauwtrappen (cycling early in the morning)

2011-06-02T21:36:00.007+02:00

Marne and Elaine are still keeping us company, we really have a great time. And our house will be very quiet when they're leaving on saturday to Oegstgeest. Wich is lucky rather close to The Hague. Because it's Ascension Day, and this is a public holiday in the Netherlands, Rob and I were free from work. So we organised this very typical dutch thing.

What do the Dutch on Ascension Day? They go cycling or walking very early in the morning, when the dew is still on the meadows (dauwtrappen). Well we didn't go that early, but we did have a very nice cycling tour: Haagse Bos, Royal Palace "Huis den Bosch", Parc Clingendeal for coffee, monument on the Waalsdorpervlakte, Meijndel for pancakes, the beach and then back home. They did a great job: 18 kilometers!

Clingendael

2011-05-30T06:29:00.010+02:00

The weather isn't perfect, but still good enough to do "outside things". Yesterday my parents came along and we all visited the Japanese garden in Clingendael. It's only open 6 weeks in springtime and two weeks in autumn.

By the way: we even managed to finish the top of the Stone Soup Quilt yesterday.

History
The Japanese garden was created in the beginning of the 20th century by the former owner of the country estate of Clingendael, Marguérite, M. Baroness van Brienen (1871 - 1939), also called Lady Daisy. She sailed off a number of times by ship to Japan and brought back to the Netherlands a number of lanterns, a water cask, sculptures, the pavillion, the little bridges and several plants.

The other half ....

2011-05-29T08:55:00.003+02:00

.... of the Stone Soup Quilt is ready, now Marne and I only have to sew the blocks together. Even with all the touristic things, and running around town, we found some quilting time. Mostly early the morning before breakfast.

In the Hague ....

2011-05-29T08:41:00.007+02:00

there lives a count ..... It's the title of a well-known dutch children's song about The Hague. Jantje (little John) probably refers to Jan I (Count of Holland) who died at the age of 15 years. The statue is standing on the bank across the Binnenhof, along the Hofvijver. Walking with Marne and Elaine through the Hague, visiting museums we passed it.

In Den Haag daar woont een graaf,
en zijn zoon heet Jantje.
Als je vraagt waar woontje pa,
dan wijst hij met zijn handje.
Met zijn vingertje, met zijn duim,
op zijn hoed draagt hij een pluim.
Aan zijn arm een mandje,
dag mijn lieve Jantje.

Haagse Markt (The Hague Market)

2011-05-27T22:18:00.007+02:00

It's the biggest market of Europe. And it's there since 1938, open for 4 days a week. You can find over 500 stalls with all kind of interesting things like: clothes, stockings, computers, cheese, fish, fruits, vegetable, fabrics etc. etc.

We had a very good time, and did our shopping for dinner. Dieuwke, Erik and Willem came a long for a nice cooked meal by Marne and Elaine. Chicken paprika, with broccoli, cole sla and nudels. For dessert: strawberrie short cake. Recipes will follow.