Being very busy..

It is a busy time of the year for Jacqueline. And there are a lot of things going on.

Last weekend, and the three days before the weekend, she was at the “Handwerkbeurs”, that’s a kind of Spring Craft Fair. A lot of booths with a lot of different crafts. Knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting, velts, beading and much more. Enough to fill the whole hall. 

Jacqueline has her own booth, of course. With a handful of her quilts hanging at the wall, and a range of different (Dutch) patterns. And for this special Craft Fair, we made a lot of great fabric bundles. These bundles had a lot of lovely flowery fabrics in them, in a whole range of colors.

Why those fabrics for sale, I hear you asking… Well, let me tell you some awesome news. Jacqueline is moving out of her ‘old’ apartment, and moving in into a great ‘new’ apartment. With.. and yes, this is really awesome: a large studio! And she’s looking forward to it, as you can imagine!

So because of the moving out stress, she has all those flowery fabrics for sale. Jacqueline has no intentions to use these any more. And by selling them, she makes a lot of women very happy!

Because of all the busyness, I helped her making those fabric bundles. She couldn’t find the time to do that. 

Not only she had the Fair last weekend, but she’s under a lot of ‘moving out’ stress. The wooden floor in her new house was damaged, and couldn't be repaired. So now she has to pick up the flooring from the old house, and move it into the new apartment. You can imagine how much extra work this will be.

And next Friday she’s teaching classes, and a week later she’s flying to the United Kingdom to teach some classes. Actually there’s no time to move..

But when these three extremely busy weeks are over, Jacqueline has time to be happy with her new apartment. She is happy now, of course, but actually too busy to have fun and enjoy it.

It is a great apartment though. With a large living area, a great hall way, one small and one very large, a super-sized bedroom and a walk-in closet. And the bonus in this apartment is of course the studio. And yes, she planned every detail of the tables, the place for the sewing machine, the quilt on the wall, the fabric storage, everything. The result will be great, and exactly as she had planned. I know my sister ;)

We keep you all updated!

The studio

The studio

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a girl. 

This girl was good in everything she did. She loves to draw, she was good in sketching dresses and ladies in lovely gowns. She was good in making things, and was always busy with paper, carton, fabrics, coloring, glue, you name it and she’s able to make what her eyes see. She didn't like school, but she was good at school where all those creative school subjects were taught. Everything she touched turned into gold.

She was so talented that she would love to go to the Academy of Arts in a city far away from the town where she grew up. Unfortunately her mom and dad wouldn't let her go, because they loved her too much.

Another path was taken.. She always liked making things, and when she discovered her mom’s sewing machine, she found her destiny. She started small, by making dolls clothes, cushions, clothes for herself and for mom. She even designed her own clothes and wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses and evening gowns.

Not only she was good with needles and scissors, she was also very talented with a lot of other things, as in colored clay.. It was quite a popular item in the Netherlands back then, and she was good.. Once there was this orchestra and they asked her to make brooches for their festival outfits. She designed hair clips, necklaces, brooches and so much more…And there was this (Queens day) fair where she sold those little giveaways.

There once was a time everybody had these “goose on a stick” made of fabric in their houses, don’t ask me why people had them, because they were such a weird things. But this girl thought, well…I can make that myself, and so she did…and not only for herself, but for everyone who wants them. The same with stuffed ducks.. The girl shows the ones she made for herself, and the orders came in… At last there were ducks all over her living room. It was so fun to see!

Everything she made turned into gold..

And then she discovered quilting…. And it was as if she come home..

Long ago she treated herself for inspiration on a crafts magazine, and there it was: a dream in soft pinks and lovely blues, a log cabin quilt. This was what she wants to try, and so she did. She dyed her own fabrics, because in those days there were no quilt stores close by, or the right quilt fabrics. She uses cottons, and for the batting she used the material you use in your kitchen hood. She uses an ordinary ruler for measuring and a pair of bad scissors. It was not perfect at all, but she loves every minute of making this. And so it began. Years later she wants to sell her first quilt, by which it all started, in a church fair. Luckily no one wants to buy it, and now it's still here. 

We’re thirty years later, and this girl is now one of the most talented quilt designers in the world. With her great eye for color and her breathtaking designs, she takes quilting into the 21th century, and tries to touch the hearts of the younger generation.

Once upon a time there was a girl, and her name is Jacqueline.