Pieces and Patches

Category Archives: family

New projects all around

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After finishing my PhD, I finally allowed myself to sign up for a 2-year course at the DIY-textile school in Amsterdam. And the first four course days are already behind me! Developing new skills – like sketching and drawing; these have never been my favorite things, the results were always poor, and the teacher in high school looked always a bit pitying, when he saw my results! However, I realized that sketching and drawing are skills that can be developed, even in people like me, who think they can only use a pencil for writing ;-). And the internet is a great source for tutorials, like the one by Graham Shaw. I managed to draw a cartoon, and even dared to use paint to fulfill one of the first assignments.

One of the main objectives of the course is to inspire and be inspired. And I can only agree that working on projects and assignments is so inspiring, (and also time consuming, but who cares? As long as you can do your favorite things?). The different teachers each come with their own expertise and skills, and their instructions and comments are really pushing the students forwards.

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Some of the exercises were so contagious that I hardly could stop. It resulted in alternative holiday wishes.

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One of the teachers is in the DIY course is Jette Clover. Jette is a very inspiring art quilter, working with mixed media. I gave my mom one of her Small Notes (Anne Frank) for Christmas.

 

The year 2015 is almost over….my brother and his family who stayed with us for two weeks, returned to Canada. Time to work on DIY projects. After paper collages, I switched to fabric collages, using the book ‘Happy Villages’ by Karen Eckmeier. This was really a fun project, and also a very good exercise for free motion quilting with my Janome Skyline S5. Never did machine quilting before, and must admit that I am not an addict, but as mentioned before, it is nice to develop new skills! Never give up! Happy 2016!

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Music and more

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Time seems to be running, a lot has happened during the Fall of 2013. A short update  of the last months of 2013:

October 2013 – I made a mini table top for the occasion of my friend’s birthday: she is a nature lover, runs her own B&B, and  lives almost in the street around the corner. She did not have any wishes for her birthday, other than hiking with friends for charity – to collect money for the Dutch Cancer Society. But I could not resist to make a her a little table-runner in Autumn-style.

 

Trip to Minnesota!

I was so lucky to be able to make a trip to the USA in October, and visit with my friends Kathy and Jon prior to the NMDP Council Meeting. We had such a great time together, did some hiking and sight seeing (We drove  to Stillwater, the Birthplace of Minnesota), a lot of shopping (fun!), pedi’s and mani’s, and she organized a ‘fabric-shop-hop’ in and around Minneapolis for me. Load’s of new fabric and idea’s to bring home with me. We will definitely do that again!

 

November 2013 was a special month, a month to remember. The weekend exhibition of the KadK– group was planned for November 22-23-24, all art works were based on   the theme ‘Music’. I borrowed the “My Rhapsody in Blue’ quilt that I made for Florian earlier this year, and made two new small wall-hangings.

‘Falalala’ is patchwork and application, hand quilted, showing  a children’s choir. It was fun to make. And…it was sold!

The second work was more traditional with bricks in blue, and a bunch of small old keys attached to a number of bricks. It is named ‘Music is the key’ and is hanging in my office since the exhibition.

The month ended with a special day, a memorable moment, we have been looking forward to: the graduation of my youngest daughter Leonore.  Since November 29th, she is officially MD. She started working in the pediatrics department as of January 2014, and I feel very grateful! We had a nice party, celebrating her gradutation and my 55th birthday with friends and family.

2013, what has happened in my quilt room

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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!

 

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.

 
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!

 

Christmas 2012….time for reflection

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Thumbs up! Two days after discharge from the hospital!

The year is almost gone…time for some reflection, and definitely time for an update on this blog, since so much has happened this year! Almost immediately after the beautiful wedding of Sanne and Wouter, we were shocked by the message that my Mom had a malignant tumor in her lung, causing severe anemia. Surgery was carried out on September 21st, and only three months later, we can say only one thing: she’s back on track! She was discharged after only 1 week, and has shown remarkable strength and resilience.

In between hospital visits and preparing for the aftermath there was the marriage of a colleague and the 25th wedding anniversary of my old schoolfriend, so some needlework had to be done.

The good thing of patchwork and quilting is that on the one hand it helps me distract, while on the other it helps me to organize my thoughts and really brings peace of mind. After the Apple tree quilt (see blog: Wedding Quilt), I looked for other ‘treeish’ patterns, since I like the idea of a Tree of Life for this occasion. And I found this Heart Tree by Liz Jones (the pattern can be downloaded from the AQS website). It was quite a challenging pattern, but I love the result, don’t you?


The start
All hearts in place

The result
Final result of the 2nd Heart Tree Quilt

Before I could think twice, Autumn was over and Winter arrived all of a sudden. Winter in the Netherlands usually means a chaotic day with traffic jam, trains no longer running, and the opportunity for a snowy picture. The next day everything is back to normal and Winter forgotten.

But staying inside, due to weather conditions, gave me the opportunity to get ready for Christmas and with a loads of seasonal fabric in stash I decided to make baskets and filled them with chocolate as a small token of appreciation for family, friends and colleagues.


Christmas treats for colleagues
Christmas baskets ready for ‘shipment’

Today, on December 25th, the temperature is almost 10° Celsius, with showers. We are enjoying our time together at home after spending Christmas Eve with Leonore and Florian, visiting my parents in the afternoon and looking forward for Sanne and Wouter arriving tonight. Despite all the turmoil in the past months, I have the feeling that the New Year will bring lots of opportunities in work (finally finishing the dissertation!), family life and quilting. There is a new project on the go, and I will tell you more about it as soon as the first bits and pieces are ready. Happy Holidays and Best of Luck in 2013!

KadK project 121212, the challenge for 2013!

A Wedding Quilt, but different.

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Fabrics from Australia and my stash
Fabrics from Australia and my stash

Less than a year ago, my daughter Sanne and her friend Wouter announced their wedding plans for June 23rd, 2012. You could say there was enough time for the design and making of a wedding quilt, but the final idea was born just before we left for our trip to Australia in April/May. It was decided that it should be a family project, not only joining the efforts, but also multiple techniques. Patchwork, applique, cross-stitch and quilting were combined in a contemporary wedding quilt. My mom and daughter Leonore were involved in the process of choosing the colors and during my trip ‘down under’ I  found the perfect fabrics.My brother in Canada and his daughter Julia were invited to make some stitches as well.

The idea was to make a tree filled with apples, each apple containing a little symbol or figure characteristic for the happy young couple. All apples were bordered with the fabric of the top and fit into the correct spot, as is shown on the apple tree map (left picture; A is for apple…).

All the fabric for the top was cut, but I could only start putting them together, after the apple-stitch project was finished!

The tree itself and the foliage were made by applique; the drawing was copied on fusible web, ironed on the top and anchored with little embroidery stitches.

This part was done in group sessions, which gave us also the opportunity to practice the songs we prepared for the wedding. Oh, the best fun is preparing for a party, with all the secrets and surprises!

Working together to get this project finished!
With Leonore…..		 …… and my mom!
Five left-over apples were put together in a separate border that was attached with ribbons under the quilt. On the other side, the names of  everyone who had participated in this project was embroidered by my mom. After finishing the top, I quilted a chained heart border.

June 23rd, 2012 was a lovely sunny day. After weeks with too much rain, this really was special, but definitely what the bride and groom deserved.
After a beautiful ceremony in the Town Hall of Wageningen, where Sanne and Wouter live, we had a day filled with joy and happiness. Lots of friends came to congratulate the happy couple and in the evening, after a lovely dinner, it was party time!

That was only 3 days ago; it is amazing how time flies, I am sitting on my couch and wondering what my next project will be….

Bachelor becomes Master

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It is less than 2 years ago, that I finished this quilt.
It was made on the occasion of the BSc of my oldest daugther Sanne and her friend Wouter. It is hanging in the living room of their apartment in Wageningen. During our trip in British Columbia (CND) in 2008, Sanne saw this quilt in a shop near Radium Hot Springs, where we stayed a couple of days, and immediately loved it. We took a picture with Leonore’s telephone, and during my stay in Minneapolis later that year, I found the perfect fabric for this quilt. Only 3 weeks ago, Sanne graduated from Wageningen University and is now a Master of Science in Spatial Planning. And if that is not enough, she entered the PhD program. Needless to say that her mother is very proud!

Sow and Harvest

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The Harvest Quilt is finished and now hanging in our living room. As mentioned before, I bought this fabric during our last trip to the USA in October 2010 in Intercourse (PA) in  Zook’s Fabric Store (http://zandsfabrics.com/). The quilt brings back the memories of Autumn in Pennsylvania, the colors of Indian Summer and the lovely time we spent with our friends in Pittsburgh, and in the B&B’s we visited in Addison, Hummelstown and Flemington.

This project was finished on the 22nd birthday of my youngest daughter. Birthdays of their children bring mothers back to the very day of their delivery: Leonore was born 2 months early, after I had spend 3 months in the hospital. Although she was so small, she did very well from the beginning:the pediatrician in charge wrote in her files: lively, lovely, smart. And she has proven to be all of it: she is 4th year medicine student, starting her intern in May! Time to celebrate!