Yesterday I took you on a tour of some of Holland's quilt shops!
Today, I am visiting Brummen, in the Province of Gelderland. The name of the shop is Atelier Bep (meaning Beps Quit Shop)! THIS ladies is a paradise to visit, and, if your like me you'll need the better part of the day to explore and visit. It brags of WOW!
As Bep so aptly describes her shops' location, you cannot help but smile, "in a pigsty in the garden in a gypsy wagon" she sells her wares. Everything relating to the making of dolls and bears, to quilting essentials (meaning fabrics)!
If you are not simply fascinated by this shop, you'll definitely be awed by the beauty of the gardens.
I forgot to mention to you, most quilt shops have coffee and tea on the go and biscuits or cookies to go along with the sip! Such a very nice tradition, don't you think?
I find it interesting to note the various degrees of interests quilters have, well, Bep is no exception to the rule! Her antique looking fabrics make for interesting outer clothing for her dolls, her bears rank in the top position of her favorites to create with clothing of cloth and knitted wear to give the certain character its appeal.
For those of you with a yen for history there is also huge Estates with flowing lawns and luscious gardens, (some of which may be visited by the visiting public) among which is the Kasteel (castle) Engelenburg! Whoa, you should look around this place for sure! It is now a posh hotel, but not that posh that you couldn't afford to stay a night and while you shop fabrics your other half can take in a round of golf! All in all, as with many villages in The Netherlands and Europe, the area is rife with history and those who speak English to explain it all to you.
History, especially my own heritable, is simply too kewl! There is a place in Hinderloopen called Glashouwer or in English, "The Dutch Fabric Shop", specializing in traditional Dutch Hinderloop clothing! Take a long look around, the chintz patterns are so intricate and look so delicate that you just have to have a portion of a meter if for no other reason than to have it! If your interested in the traditional garb of the Hinderloop then flit on over to P8 Buttons & Frbrics there you will find a great article on where Hinderloppen is located as well as a pictorial selection of the olden day costumes and chintz! Those wooden shoes all painted in traditional Hinderloopen chintz are spectacular, don't you agree? To me the Toille fabrics and Chintz fabric patterns of yesteryear are coveted, why, because their simply artistically beautiful. One last place for you to see Hindeloop artwork in the traditional is to take a look around Folk Art & Decorative Painting Artezan and it is here where you can get a sense and feel of the actual love of folk art.
One last foray into the interesting Dutch Quilt shops is De Naaidoos! Located in an old farm house, the shop represents anything but old! It is bright, modern and filled to its rafters with fabrics and notions, and their line of clothing and more!
There you have it for today, some more memories shared and places to visit.
Thank you for stopping by and for your interest. If you have a comment on today or yesterdays posts, please, feel free to leave it, I am interested in your thoughts and ideas for possible posts in the future.
In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer
I have been sitting here all morning with nothing accomplished to speak of. I cleaned up my Pinterest site, I answered e-mails, I made phone call invitations to our Annual Lions End of Year party, I wobbled back and forth to the computer from the sewing machine, and I am in a great deal of discomfort with this leg I managed to hurt yesterday. All in all not a productive morning!
I did however visit lots and lots of sites whenever I managed to sit down in front of this screen, some which I added to my Pinterest and some which I tried to enter, but, couldn't and then I just got myself sidetracked with memories of other places which house other shops!
For instance, I really wanted to share some of the Fabric shops I visited while in Holland last year, like Stegemans Textiles. I wrote last year about my visit there but I don't believe I gave it a thorough review. The shop is located in Rouveen, very near the old Dorp (Village) of Staphorst. That is the shop to go to if you want folklore costumes, or just bits of old costume fabrics which are resold and you can take apart to remake into something quilty or wearable. The town itself is quiet, and its elder inhabitants still wear traditional costumes of many years ago. The sight of a woman on a bicycle dressed in traditional garb is quite the treat. There is a lovely Blog I visit now and again names Belvivere Luxury Linens, there you will find a well written article with interesting pictures on her Holiday stay there last summer (I think it was last summer). One of these fine years I too will be back visiting that Village and this time taking much, much longer to spend my money in that fine fabric filled shop. It carries traditional Dutch reproduction fabrics which if you were to visit you'd be overjoyed with. Mind you, present day fabrics are not excluded, that shop has such a varied and wide selection of the latest for you to purchase as well.
Henk Van der Leeden took a wonderful and awesome picture of women of Staphort all in traditional attire - you have just got to see this picture.
Compliments of Bon Voyage Theodora there is this picture showing full frontal views of the "Sunday Best" so different from the everyday working attire those women are wearing....
In Stegemans you can actually buy reproductions of these fabrics or, in the alternative as I stated above, you can but the pieces of the costume itself !
As it is with our Mennonite and Amish Sects here in North America, these people of Staphorst still are not comfortable with getting their pictures taken.
Now, if you would like to visit a modern quilt shop in the Netherlands, try out the t'Hobby Hoekje
in Arnhem (very close) actually in Huissen, more or less a suburb of Arnhem. This store is open for business through the week and also does a good retail business over the internet with its web-store. The selection of fabrics is impressive for small space store!
Last memory I would like to share with you today is the De Lapjesgaard in Amstelveen.... Looking around (see pictures at this site) you can see the "old fashioned" furnishings of the shop which enhances your visit to this well stocked store.
The scent will transport you you know, old floors, old cabinets, old wood?
Now that I have shared some of my Dutch Fabric/Quilt shops with you, it really is time for me to think of a return trip, don't you agree, I should return and revisit and explore more shops to share?
IF you find yourself in Holland I can attest you will not be disappointed in the quantity and the quality of the Quilt Shops and fabrics in this tiny country. Like so many other countries in Europe, the dutch quilter is meticulous and takes her hobby of quilting very seriously, they are great at adhering to the letter of the pattern. What these women in Holland have I might never acquire, patience.
Thanks for putting up with my meanderings today, I hope you enjoyed some of my memories?
Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. ~Author Unknown
