Since life (work) has been so busy, my quilt blog hasn’t been updated. But one thing I have decided recently is to spend my out of office time doing things that bring joy and relaxation. In practice it will mean that the piles of books and articles that I have gathered for the final chapter of my thesis will last a little longer in our living room. But the change I made will bring me more inspiration and energy to fix this last chapter! Enough about work, what happened in my quilt room lately?
Last year I started with projects for the exhibition of the Kunst aan de Kade group (Art at the Quay) in March. The first quilt was made on the occasion of the wedding of our friends John and Peter. Peter is a founding member of the KadK group and the quilt I made is meant as a memory of this very special day on December 12, 2012. It is based on a cartoon made by Peter. The cartoon was enlarged and divided in 20 pieces. All members of the KadK group where then asked to make a creation based upon a part of the drawing (prepared on a fixed canvas; the artists did not know what the complete picture was). The result was a very colorful and dynamic painting, showed on the Wedding day and sold by auction.The March exhibition was in the former Mariaschool in Heemskerk , where nowadays cultural and creative projects and negotiations are housed. Creations dedicated for this occasion were based on the theme ‘Virgin Mary’. It took me some time before the idea for my project ‘popped’ in to my head. I did not want to come with a traditional Madonna figure, and thought what was specific for the person Mary. She lost her child, and knowing how much sorrow this is for a mother, it brought me the inspiration for my mini quilt: Mary’s Tears. The tears and flowers are made by hand applique and this is my first quilt where I combined traditional quilting (a feathered border) with free quilting by hand and I am quite satisfied with the result!
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My Rhapsody in Blue
In June, Florian gave his Master Recital on Bassoon in Codarts, the Rotterdam Conservatory. We were invited to attend his ‘proof of principal’ on June 20th for the Exam Committee. He passed (of course) with a special compliment for his artistic leadership. This is a short impression of the start of his concert – in a darkened room with only a scarce light for the piano player.
A diploma is the perfect occasion to create a new quilt, and so I worked on and finished ‘My Rhapsody in Blue’. I designed a quilt template 
with a music key and notes for the borders, and Florian and Leonore were quite happy with the result. The quilt is hanging in their living room just above the piano.
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Future projects
Later this year, the KadK group will have a weekend exhibition (Nov 22-24) in Leiden in the Sidac Studio (www.sidacstudio.nl). The theme of this exhibition is “Music”, what more could I wish for? I have already started with some projects and will keep you updated!
