Hi Tisha, It was up in Leeuwarden in Friesland - it's on til the 29th March so if you get a wriggle on you could still make it! If you do go, check out the fabric fairs http://www.stoffenspektakel.nl/index...b4ca65b34f2ea7 sorry, it's in every language EXCEPT English - hope you can work it out, at least dates are the same! No I don't know of any retreats but some lovely shops - Petra Prins in Zutphen, Den Haan & Wagenmaakers in Amsterdam - www.dutchquilts.com , De Quilterij in Den Bosch (also known as s'Hertogenbosch - think it's a dutch joke to give the same town 2 names - confuse the hell out of foreignors! :lol: ) These are just a few.

If you want any more info or help with googling in Dutch, just PM me - my DH is Dutch so I can rope him in for translation duty, I only know the most important words (like for example 'stoffen' is 'fabric' and 'winkel' is shop! :D :wink: )

K x

k3n-

the quilts with the teeny patches are amazing. i have never had the patience to do work that small. and there is a definite difference in color sense between american and european quilts, don't you think? different cultures produce such different color tastes.

and i thank you for your kind words.

Kind words are the least I can give you!

Yes, those patches were teeny - that's why I put my finger there to give a sense of scale (and my fingers are not that fat!!! :wink: ) It looks like they were pieced over papers cos you could see the oversewing stitches on the front; I'd love to try it one day if I REALLY feel like a challenge!

The different styles ARE interesting, Dutch is a lot of reds, blues and whites which i love, here in France, the French ladies in my quilt group use a lot of either REALLY bright colours like lime green and orange (NOT me at all!) or more old-fashioned prints; I think my style is more traditonal American pioneerish, I just love all those old quilts and repro fabrics, and all the history around the block patterns, beautiful! (Although the Dutch are very quick to point out that all those old American quilters came originally from Europe - Amish is an obvious example! :wink: )

K x

i can certainly understand their taking credit for (some of) the amish ones, but they don't really deserve any credit for the civil war or pioneer quilts.
they're really stretching it there. and if they think that quilting itself is a european invention, they ought to stay away from the chinese!

are the ladies in your guild young, as young as you are? or is quilting basically a craft for more mature (do you notice how sensitive i am?) women? in this country it is a mixed bag and i've often wondered about european quilters.

Yes, I know all about the Dutch sensitivity about their exploits going unremarked - I live with a Dutch man! But as their biggest contribution to world language is the word 'apartheid', well maybe they have reason to be a little red-faced! :oops: But Hans often points out to me that everywhere the British colonised, the Dutch had already been there first! Not that THAT is anything to be proud of! And you're absolutely right about the Chinese - a much more ancient culture. I must do some reading and see where the absolute FIRST quilters came from - maybe even a cave woman who lashed two mammoth furs together with some flax in between?! :D

The ladies in my guild range in age from mid thirties to seventies (thanks for the 'young' comment - I'm 44 but get away with less because my kids are so young!) I must say the over fifties probably predominate but it those French sixty and seventy somethings who are the life and soul of the party, oh they make me laugh! They're like teenagers, only funny! :D

K x

Thank you for the treat!

You're completely welcome - I enjoyed the exhibition so much more as I was clicking away with my camera, trying to decide what you ladies would like to see most! :D

K x

I love how we get to travel the world and see so many wonderful sights, thanks to faraway friends. Thanks for sharing!

speaking of which, how far away from holland are you? and are your children in school? it seems as though you lucky people over there do a lot of traveling. americans have to plan their vacations around their children's school schedules and summer vacations. also, this country is so large, that from the east coast to west coast is probably farther than, what, the far end of germany, maybe chekoslovakia (oh, boy! spelling!)? it's hard to judge.
we are about 3,000 miles, coast to coast. i don't know how that relates.

Hi Butterflywing,

It's about 650 mile from here to Hollland, so about a nine hour trip, but we share the driving - two hours each - so we do it in one go. My DH is used to it though because he works for a Dutch company and has to go once a fortnight for 2 or 3 days, otherwise he works from home, or in other parts of France and once a month he flies to Russia! :shock:

The kids were off school for half term and spent a couple of weeks in England with their father (from whom I'm divorced), so that's why I could go!

K x