Quilting in the south of Holland

After the fun I had trying out their new Q20 quilting machine at the Rijswijk quilt fair (Patchwork en Quilt Dagen) recently (click), the people from Bernina kindly invited me for more quilting fun and a workshop by Elly Prins (click) at their Creative Center in Breda in the south of Holland.

Unfortunately my day started with this…….

 

which made me an hour late for the workshop but not to worry, Elly made sure I caught up with everyone else during their coffee break and soon enough I was able to try my hand at a bit of longarm quiting for the first time ever, on the new Bernina Q24.

 

 

 

 



I loved it! 

I also tried out the pantagraph

I enjoyed it so much, I could have done this all day, I needed to concentrate so much no time to think of anything else, so therapeutic!

 









There was a lot time to play with the Q24 and I enjoyed it tremendously, thank you very much to the people from Bernina en to Elly for this opportunity!

Now I guess I need to win the lottery ……… ;-)

 



 

After the workshop there I had time to make the short drive to the Quilt it & Dotty quiltshop in Tilburg, I had not been there for some time, so this was a good opportunity.

Always lovely to visit Dorry’s shop, great for some quilt inspiration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



When I was there Ingrid (Supergoof, click) also dropped in, so we had a cup of tea and a chat to catch up on everything.
After that it was time to hit the road again for the 100 km drive back home.

And this is what came home with me

 



the Bernina goody-bag and some fabrics from Dorry, also a shocking pink needle puller, could ‘t resist that one , so cute!

Hope you are enjoying a lovely, long Whitsun/Pentecost/bankholiday/Memorial Day weekend!

Phyllis

 

Quilting in France

Last week we spent at a really beautiful place in Brittany, France. It had been 15 years since we were last in France and we probably would not have gone now if it had not been for our friends Jeanin, Roderick, Charlotte and Thomas who decided to make France their home some 6 years ago.

We had not seen each other in all this time, but kept in touch via Facebook etc. During the years we saw the pictures of the house they bought, the changes they made and we thought it was high time to take a look for ourselves and catch up.

So off we went and after an often scenic roadtrip we arrived in Ploërdut … at Chateau de Guernevelien

 



Next to the main building is the old couch house which they converted into a gite, this is where we were staying this week. It was lovely, warm, cozy and very comfortable. Jeanin had thought of everything, there was spring water, beer and sparkling white wine in the fridge, red wine at room temperature (started on that straight away after the long trip J ) and fresh eggs from their own chickens for breakfast the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the kitchen everything is present to cook a nice meal like oil, vinegar, all sorts of herbs and spices etc. All you have to do is get some great ingredients at local markets and shops to make yourself a great meal, which we did a few times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from visiting markets we drove around, seeing the area

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



In the village of Guėmenė-sur-Scorff,  a 15 minutes drive from Ploërdut, we found a lovely little bistro, we could not resist the juicy beef burger, served on a delicious bun, with homemade fries and mayonnaise.

 

 

 

 





Back at the Guernevelien, the two dogs, Dastan and Mila, are not allowed into the gite, but once they found out we loved taking them for walks around the estate when they were let out of the big house, they would come to the gite to see if we were in for walk with them,

 

 

either in the large garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 or the wooded area that also belongs to the property.

 



The cats are not allowed into the gite either, but Droppie really made an effort

 



Now and then it rained and it was a bit chilly, so unfortunately we could not make use of the hot tub this trip

 



so we stayed indoors some of the time too, which we did not mind at all. The gite had wood burning stove which we loved using. It was nice and warm and so cozy!
With my husband and daughter reading and me quilting we spent lovely hours in the gite.

 

 

 



It was a lovely and relaxed week, Jeanin and Roderick have great plans for Chateau de Guernevelien, including a second gite that should be ready next year. We will definitely be back in the future to see the changes.

Should you be interested in the gite that we stayed at, you can find it here: (click) and their Facebook page (click)

 

Enjoy your week!

Phyllis