The end of 2014 and the start of 2015 were captivated by the defense of my PhD dissertation Focus on the Donor.
Crossing Borders was of course present during the party in Castle Oud Poelgeest.
Apart from the quilt I made for the cover of my book, I also made gifts for my fantastic promotor professor Anneke Brand and co-promotores Lynne M Ball and Machteld Oudshoorn, who have supported me over the years with their enthusiasm, advice and always positive criticism. Since my promotor is famous for her love of chocolat (a day without chocolate is a day wasted) I made her a wallhanging with a wink to her preference. The material was given to me by my colleagues Terry and Veronica in South Africa, and reminded me in a way of the chocolates by the Australian. I added Kona Solids (champagne) and Andover Jo’s Best Friends.
As usual I started with a vague idea (chocolate drops in boxes in a window screen). and as usual the work developed itself; I am happyl result, and was did Anneke. And she surprised me with a Dutch Heritage box of the Den Haan and Wagenmakers, super-candy for quilt-lovers and fabric-addicts. ‘Do you dare cut it?’ asked my quilt-friend when I told her. ‘Uh…no’. ‘Well, than you have to pet it’, she said, and so I will do.
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For Lynne and Machteld I also used red fabric from South Africa, which resulted in two small quilts: Redworks I and II. All three were machine pieced and hand quilted.
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The finishing of my dissertation, which almost became a lifetime project is a fact. However, it still feels a bit unreal. I am pretty sure I’ll get used to it, and especially to the freedom and the time to develop new projects. Since a life-long learning is one of my principles, I have applied for a course in Textile Art Quilting at the DIY Textile School, which will start in September. To prepare I will started with a short course Mixed Media, which will start in February.
Homework for the first day of Mixed Media: check!