Pieces Connecting the Past

At least once a year 

I try to dig into my collection 

of Dutch Heritage fabrics designed by

Petra Prins of the Netherlands.

I love the colors and the traditional floral designs 

inspired by antique Dutch prints.

Anneke Van Leuvan

1747 -1785

My 5th Great Grandmother

This quilt really began with the center background fabric.

I was gifted a fat quarter of this historical 18th century reproduction,

Trails and Leaves,

from the fabric collection at Colonial Williamsburg.

It was just calling to be used for as a

background for some applique

I found the perfect design in the book,

Quilts from the Colonies, 

by Australian Quilt designer,  Margaret Mew.

From there it was pure fun.

Using my Dutch fabrics and some other

fabrics that wanted to play along,

I made lots of hst's and appliqued

melon shaped leaves.

The machine quilting was kept simple

as to not distract from the fabric's patterns.

I even had a large piece that I could use for the backing.

When it came time for the binding,

it took a bit of hunting to find the right piece.

I finally chose one of my favorite fabrics.

It was part of a group of reproduction  fabrics 

from Smithsonian's quilt collection printed in the

mid 1990's.

It's almost gone. 😢

Recently, I had been playing around on

Ancestry and rediscovered a family 

line that was located in Saugerties, New York

 along the Hudson River, which was an area

colonized by the Dutch.

I wanted to honor my family

that originally found their way 

from Oosterhout, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands 

to the America's sometime between the 1630's and 1650's.

*****

A photo shoot.

The weather was warm so

 I headed to the perennial gardens 

at Colorado State University.

Most plants are still hibernating from

the winter weather,

but the ornamental grasses add

texture to the dormant garden.

My quilt added some color to these barren branches 

that will eventually change to green once spring arrives.

In September, 1981 Andy Warhol came to the CSU campus

and was commissioned for one of his iconic soup can sculptures. 

My quilt and Andy's Soup Can

are visually very different.

But maybe we both 

have found a sense of fulfillment in being creative.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

An October Mini Quilt and Some History

First a story: 

In the spring of 1623,  90 some passengers

embarked on two small English ships,

the Anne and a smaller ship, the Little James.

After 3 months at sea, The Anne arrived at

Plymouth on July 10, 1663.

On board was my 9th great grandmother,

Hester Mahieu Cooke and her children

Jacob, Jane, and Hester.

She had stayed behind in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1620

while her husband, Francis and her oldest son,

John, sailed on the Mayflower heading for America. 

She must have been a very brave and very confident woman

to remain behind.   Her faith must have given her the strength 

she needed to stay positive and hopeful that

everything would work out according to their plan

 and that her family would be reunited someday.

There couldn't have been much communication

between November, 1620 and July, 1623,

but Hester left Leiden with others

from her Separatist group and

set sail for the New World.

What would life be like?

Would Francis and John be waiting for them?

Fortunately,  it was a happy reunion

on the shores of North America after 3 years apart.

Later they had one more child, Mary, who is my

8th great grandmother.  I'm glad everything

worked out!

They remained in Plymouth until their deaths

in 1663 (Francis) and Hester (1666).

This month I decided to work with my

Dutch fabric and use the book, Promenade in a Dutch Garden

to make a quilt honoring Hester and

her story.

It didn't take long to decide to stitch a small

mini quilt  made up of hourglass blocks with

a small appliqued star in the center. 

Maybe Hester focused on a star each evening and hoped that her 

husband and son were looking at the same star,

bringing them closer in her mind and heart.

Leaving Home, Leiden, 1623

17" x 21"

Pattern from Petra Prins and An Moonen's book,

 Promenade in a Dutch Garden

It gave me a chance to play with all the

beautiful Dutch fabrics that I have been collecting

along with some Jo Morton favorites.

An hourglass was a way for people to keep track of time.

I'm sure Hester kept close track of the days, months, and years

while she remained in Leiden.

The quilting is simple in the ditch

machine quilting,

nothing fancy, similar to her probable life style.

I finished the edges in a traditional

Dutch way with a separate facing.

This method makes the edges sharp and clean without 

an added frame created with traditional binding.

With Thanksgiving approaching it

will be nice to have this small quilt included in 

the holiday as a way 

to remember this brave woman

and her Dutch connection.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

One More Memory

It's hard to believe that it's been 

a year and half since I went to 

Den Haan & Wagenmakers

in Amsterdam.

 It was a wonderful shop to visit.

I treated myself to a kit.

and started sewing it earlier this year.

I substituted lots of other Dutch Heritage

fabrics into the pattern.

Well, I got the top finished earlier this spring

and finally had opportunity to get it quilted by

one of my favorite local machine quilters, Debi R.

All the quilting has brought it to life.

So much color and pattern.

So much texture. 

I was initially concerned that stitching over

the big chintz pattern would be distracting and

take away from the beauty of the fabric.

But I was very happy how those large squares looked.

The border was the same wonderful complicated fabric, but

even using a feather design it worked out beautifully.  

You might have noticed that I didn't add a

tradition binding, but rather finished the edge in

the traditional Dutch way.

This method involves sewing strips of fabrics together,

 then sewing them to the front of the quilt 

and bringing it the the back of the quilt

where it's hand stitched in place.

In essence, it's creating a facing to finish the edge.  

 It's a very clean and sharp finish.

There are many tutorials online to get the specifics.

I used the same backing fabric so you can barely see it.

I finally got to use this special label

that I had been saving.

It includes the names of the wonderful quilters

I traveled with and those that I had the privilege to meet

along the way.

I am so happy to have this quilt finished.

The pattern name was called Clafoutis,

 which is a classic French dessert that

combines fresh cherries in a rich dense custard.

So obviously, to celebrate

I made a cherry clafoutis.

Both the dessert and my quilt

turned out perfect. 

Hope you agree.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Time to Start Something New

A year has a way of

slipping away if you're not careful.

It's hard to believe

that it's already been a year

since I had the opportunity

to visit the Netherlands.

I was so fortunate to travel with

7 wonderful women from Virginia

and then, even met some new delightful Dutch quilting friends!

Besides touring Amsterdam

and the surrounding countryside, complete with tulips,

we, of course, went to Petra Prin's shop

to do a little shopping.

I brought home the kit for this quilt.

"Clafoutis"

Last week I decided it had 

lingered long enough

and opened up that delicious box

filled with fabulous fabrics and the

beautiful colors of this large Dutch chintz.

It felt so exciting and brought back

sweet memories of my awesome trip.

One block

quickly became 3

then doubled to six.

It's been such a treat working on this.

The only thing better would be

working on these blocks during a "sew day"

together with friends.

Until Next Time-

Kyle