Colours of the Netherlands

Following a deafening silence! Sorry about that, I've been busy.

I chose this pic to start my post about The Netherlands because this is what I have seen since I arrived - beautiful, lush green! Everywhere I look there are green fields and beautiful trees and picturesque houses. This is such a beautiful and friendly country.  

I have been in The Netherlands for the Rhinetex Open House in Andelst. Twice a year our friend Maarten, the owner of the largest patchwork distribution company in Europe, opens his warehouse for the shops to come in and see and buy what he has in stock. I was lucky enough that Maarten invited me to come to the Open House and give workshops to some of the shops who attended.

Just look at all those MO books! And believe it or not, that table was almost empty by the time the two days were up. That's a LOT of MO out there floating around.

Maarten had something in stock I had never even seen before - MO in Dutch!

He also had some colours here I know you will all drool to see.... looky here at all that Kaffe!

mmmm... Kaffe-a-licious.

There were a lot of shopping trolleys leaving the warehouse full of that!

The warehouse was hung all over with my quilts which was a buzz to see. Looking very spectacular hanging in the entrance was Fruit Tingles.

The board room where I taught the workshops was full of my quilts, and sported a lovely red wall which made everything look very zingy! Don't the colours in the quilts look great with that painting?

We had a wonderful time, all the women in the six workshops I taught were so friendly and interested, and told me lots of interesting things about quilting in Germany, Belguim, France and The Netherlands which I hope to share soon with you on SEWN. 

I know I havent blogged about the Festival of Quilts yet, and I do have some lovely pictures yet from The Netherlands, but I will tantalise you with that for a few days yet. The only pics left for today are some of the furry friends I have made on this trip! Not one, but TWO sets of bunnies, some of which were eating grass outside my hotel in Birmingham....

Bunnies! Outside the hotel!

And the others which have been amusing me at Maarten's lovely house where we stayed in The Netherlands. 

And my favourite friend of all, the most beautiful Britte (I hope I spelt that right!), who I would have liked to sneak into my suitcase and take home to Australia with me!

Thank you so much to Maarten and Irene and their children for welcoming us into their home, to the lovely Elise and the staff at Rhinetex for making us feel so comfortable and to all the friendly girls I met in my classes! We have had a great trip and all that's left now is to board that horrid 24 hour flight back home to see my boys. See you on the other side......

Sarah Fielke Material Obsession, Material Obsession 2

Comments

[Stephanie]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! A warehouse to shop in. Everyone should be lucky enough to have their own Maarten!

[Joy]

How exciting for you, sounds like a fantastic trip. And what a thrill for you to see all your books disappearing off the shelves that way. Congratulations Sarah!!!
Hugs,
Joy :o)
PS Oh I just LOVE those bunnies ;o)

[Kate]

Fabric heaven!!

[amy]

A visual feast! The warehouse is very appealing, the boardroom would make meetings bearable. Love the MO in Dutch! The Birmingham bunnies are the same color as the ones we see darting around the neighborhood (although I'm sure those are much more refined bunnies by the hotel...). One darted out from the bushes while I was on my walk this morning. My startle reflex is working. Safe travels home!

[Heather]

WOW!!! What an amazing warehouse full of fabric treasure - you think because I have a little Dutch in me I could get invited??? LOL!!! Love the pics - Kaffe's fabrics are so vibrant - thanks for sharing.

[wishes, true and kind]

Oh my -- the colors, the fabrics, the quilts! And very Kaffe-alicious! Can't wait to see more.

[karin]

That warehouse looks so wonderful. All those fabrics, those colours, wow!

Nice to read that you enjoyed your trip to our little country!

[Kate]

A visual feast is right! Look were your quilting has taken you! Fantastic trip!!

[andi]

What an amazing buzz!!!!

[Dorry]

Dear Sarah,

I am so trilled to see me in the pictures! I am seen on the back with my antique french nightgown in white! Loved meeting you and maybe take a look at my weblog (which is also in english!) www.dorryvanbeers.blogspot.com and www.quilt-it.nl (my website and webshop!).

Lots of kisses

Dorry

[amber]

Those pictures are lovely. The table full of books, rows and rows of bolts of fabric. What heaven that is! I love the quilt you were working on on the plane and just have to tell you that your designs are fabulous. I love the way vintage meets modern in your quilts and am really planning on getting my hands on your books one of these days! Thanks for sharing all of your amazing pictures with us. They're so inspiring!