June/July 2019 Summertime , time for a change and a 'new kid on the block'

Summertime! Which means a quiet neighbourhood (lots of people away on holiday) , salads for dinner, yummy aperatifs in the garden and in this case also time for a change on my blog….

I will  n o t   be closing my blog and also I will  n o t   just stop writing updates on my blog, but for some time I noticed that what I was doing on my blog was for the most part just duplicating what was already on my Instagram account. As blogging takes time, a lot more time than Instagram, for some months now I have been wondering what to do with my blog.

For a few years I have been posting on Instagram, you can find my account here (click) , I love Instagram, so easy and quick, but now and then I find it too quick and fleeting and then the blog seems a better way to communicate and share when there are those special events, like quilt shows, workshops , a finished quilt or a very special trip.

Sooooooo….. from now on my updates will be less regular, but that does not mean that they will be few and far between. In fact there may be such a blog post in the near future. It just means that the focus of this blog will change somewhat.
So I hope you will keep on following me as I appreciate the each and everyone I ‘meet’ through this blog, online and in person, frequent or infrequent. I have made wonderful connections through this blog and some have evolved into great and cherished friendships.
So my blog is important to me, as are my visitors/readers, that has not changed.

Just so this blogpost is not just text, this is what I have been up to quilt wise lately:

I joined the Cheddarback sew along, hosted by Gay of Sentimental Stitches (click), this was the first month:-

Did I already post the first 40 Rosa Biddlecombe blocks? 

Also, I started a new project, the Strafford Manor quilt designed by Judy Newman, I followed her workshop on this quilts at Pour l’amour du Fil in Nantes (click) more this project on that at a later date, when I have done more work on it.

Sooooooooo from now on the above kind of updates will just be on my Instagram (click)

A 'new kid on the block': 

I would like to take this opportunity and use my blog to introduce a ‘new kid on the block’ in our country and indeed the EU: Rachel Hauser of Stitched in Color (click) , some of you may already know her as a designer, author, quilter and long arm quilter from the US. This summer she moved to The Netherlands, Enschede to be exact and as her husband plans to study here, she wants to support her family by continuing her long arm quilting business over here. 

I admire people who chase their dreams and this is a bold move for a young family (no nice expat allowances or assistance here , they are doing this all by themselves).
Rachel has many years of long arm quilting experience and is now ready to accept long arm quilting orders from all over the EU , so please check out her website (click), where you can find her portfolio (click), her blog (click), Instagram account (click) and book (click) .

I already did and I think her work looks beautiful, I am sure your quilts will be in good hands. Look at this!

Her website and blog are full of inspiration and for us Dutch people her blog posts on moving to The Netherlands and the first impressions and experiences of her and her family are also really interesting.

So if you have a quilt that you want to hand over to a longarm quilter to be finished, give Rachel a try.

And now it is time to do the household chores before it gets too hot to do so.
Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my blog,  until the next time we meet again in this place,

Phyllis

Note: the last 4 pictures were provided by and published with the approval of Rachel.

May 2019, Amersfoort, The Netherlands

After my travels to Nantes (click and click) and Gauchy (click) it was time to return home, but only for one day. Just enough time to take care of the washing and restock the fridge for the homefront, then I was back on the road (well, not really, back in the train) for my next quilt date, helping out at the Secret Sewing Sisters Smith Quiltmania exhibition also featuring the quilts of Susan Smith, Cécile Franconie and the antique quilts of collector Charles-Edouard de Broin, organised by Petra Prins in the Sint-Joris church in Amersfoort.

As this blogpost comes later than I planned , you may have seen pictures of this exhibition on other blogs and also on Instagram already, my own account (click) or other accounts. If you have not than I hope you enjoy these pictures and if you already have, maybe you enjoy seeing them again.

During those few weeks of travel to Nantes, Gauchy and Amersfoort things were so busy I hardly had any time to stitch at all, which is why – once back home – I spent my spare time stitching before writing this blogpost, I found I had really missed my stitching time.

So, here it is, an impression of a very special exhibition, beautiful quilts at a wonderful location, a great combination:-

On my first morning ‘reporting for duty’ 😉 I was way too early, the first one to arrive, but was let in by one of the church caretakers, so I had a little time to just sit down in an empty and quiet church, finishing my coffee, taking it all in….

Once everyone arrived, the doors opened and the visitors could enjoy all of this:-

The quilts

For Liliane (click) 😉 : 

The booths

The people , only a few on the many familiar and new faces during those days

Hi Yvonne (click) behind the camera, thanks for the picture 😊

And last but certainly not least, as always, a joy and a lot of fun to spend time with and work alongside Juud (click)

Thank you for visiting this exhibition again with me on this blog until the next time!

Phyllis

For information on the quilts above I refer to the Quiltmania books:
Labors of Love by the Secret Sewing Sisters
Quilts, somewhat in the middle by Susan Smith
Quilted and embroidered fantasies by Cécile Franconie
Bliss of a quilt digger by Charles-Edouard de Broin