Holland, From The Seat of My Bike

The Quilt Show received so much positive feedback about their armchair travel series last year, they decided to do it again this summer. During a casual conversation, upon finding out that I had just done a Bike & Barge trip, one of the producers asked me if I had taken any photos.  Photos??? How about 575 photos? And who's trip did they decide to start the series with???

MOI! (says Miss Piggy)

 

Click on the link at the bottom of the photo

 and see Holland from the seat of my bicycle, via The Quilt Show blog.

I would highly recommend it.

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/5696

 

Of All the Museums in Amsterdam ....

I arrived home yesterday from our bike & barge trip to Holland.  The laundry is done.  The suitcases are put away.  I am trying to do a bit of photo organization before I get back to daily work and life.  I have to hit the ground running, because I am giving a workshop on Saturday.  It's in Oxford, Pa  and the subject ifs creating an Embellished Beauty from a photo.  There are still a couple of spaces, so if you are interested, e-mail me.

 

We spent an extra day and a half in Amsterdam.  This city has a ton of museums, and you can buy a pass to see many of them for free.  The Dutch have many home grown artists, such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Hals,to name a small number, and they celebrate them all. After having my heart ripped out at the Anne Frank house, I rejoiced in the development of Van Gogh as an artist.

 

I did have a museum on my list that not many people would have on their own list, but if you like fabric and you sew, or like fashion, you would understand.  It's the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje.  They call it the Tassen for short and it's the museum of handbags and purses.  How could I not go there?  500 years of history and eye candy in a historic home?  Fortunately they have a cafe with WiFi, which is where my husband patiently waited.

 

I wish my photos came out better, but between the glass cases and the dark lighting,

these are my best ones. I hope you get the flavor of this wonderful place.

 

Seating in the lobby

School children's bags from the 1800's that they also used as their desk.
Can you see the derivation of the Pennsylvania Dutch motifs?

Hillary Clinton never looked better!

Lucite bags from the 50's

 

 

A Postcard From Holland

I am seeing Holland from the seat of a bike and from the deck of a barge.

Internet is hard to get,so I am sipping a Coke Light in a McDonalds in Leiden to access their free WiFi (or wiffy as they say here).

 

The weather has been pretty chilly and grey, but the bike riding has been great.  I'll share photos of the bikes and the barge in my next post.  For now, it will be mainly scenery.

Quilt Inspiration

Over 1000 windmills pepper the countryside.

 

 

Installation of a new Ambassador - pomp and circumstance