It was a busy week. For weeks everybody is busy with
Sinterklaas, a more then thousands year old bishop living in Spain, coming to the Netherlands on his boat with his black Peters. Black because they climb through chimneys to deliver presents to the children on his birthday, the 5th of December. We all give each other 'surprises' (special presents), sorry, he gives us presents.
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| All the children are waiting for Sinterklaas arrival half of November. |
There is a discussion in the Netherlands about black Peter. So we have Peters in all kind of colors now. Some people want black Peter to stay black, but you see colored Peters everywere. The feast is for children and they do not mind. A lot of adults are very angry, but the children love every Peter, white, blcak, gold, green or purple!!!
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I love the colored Peters too!! The black Peters has nothing to do with racism, but why
hurting people if there is a colored alternative to keep the tradition for averybody alive? |
At the fith of December we have parties where we give each other presents. You are told who to buy a present and to make a 'surprise'. The surprise is a poem, you have to make by yourself, and the present packed in something you need to construct, to hide the present. I had to make a present for someone who, like me, is always on a diet, with little result. So I teased him with a cardboard balance with a poem about loosing all that weight and still being the same. I hide the book he wants and two placemats with stacked cups in the balance. You know who to make a surprise weeks before, but everybody is stressed the last week before the fifth of December and still busy with the surprises and writing a poem.
Mijn surprise dit jaar was een weegschaal waarin een boek zat en een gedacht over constant gewicht verliezen en toch hetzelfde figuur behouden. Natuurlijk was ik vijf december nog bezig met de surprises.
When we go to a Sinterklaas party with friends or family we put our surprises in 'the bag of Sinterklaas' with only the name of the reciever. When it is your turn to unpack your surprise, you need to read the poem aloud and unwrap your surprise while everybody is watching. So we are busy all night.listenings poems and watching everybody unpacking all those surprises. When it is unpacked you say: Thank you so much Sinterklaas! My aurprise was a bag made of two log cabin blocks in green and red fabrics with all kind of quilting goodies. Fat quarters (the same red and greens!), a small rotary cutter, a fabric marker and two fifteen year old issues of Quilt Mania with awesome quilts. Thank you so much Sinterklaas!!
Part of the tradition is that at the end of the evening everybody tries to guess who made his surprise! Sometimes you never know. But I know it was the sister of the host and I send her the stacked cup and saucers placemat I finished last week.
Mijn surprise dit jaar was een tas van twee logcabin blokken, gemaakt door iemand die nog nooit patchwork had gemaakt. Daarin zat een rolmaat, een verdwijnstift, fat quarters van dezelfde rode en groene stofjes als waarvan de tas was gemaakt, met twee vijftien jaar oude Quilt Mania's met prachtige quilts! Dank je wel Sinterklaas!!!! Ik hoorde dat de zuster van de gastheer de surprise had gemaakt. Ik heb aan haar broer voor haar de placemat van kopjes en schoteltjes gegeven.
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| The bag of Sinterklaas with all the surprises! |
Because of Sinterklaas I had very little time to sew. I finished another stacked cups placemat and finished the crib for my husbands sun and his wife. The baby will be born around new years eve and everything is going well. Now our youngest grandchildren, Guus and Kate, are 2 and 1, it is fun to welcome another grandchild. And is it fun to take care of the baby and brother Guus one day a week!!
Door Sinterklaas heb ik van de week alleen maar een placemat met gestapelde kopjes kunnen naaien. Maar ik heb ook de wieg afgemaakt voor mijn man's jongste zoon en zijn vrouw. De baby wordt rond oud en nieuw geboren en alles gaat tot nu toe goed. Het is geweldig om nu de jongste twee kleinkinderen, Guus en Kate, 2 en 1 zijn er weer een kleinkind bij te krijgen. We mogen op deze kleine en haar broer Guus weer een dag per week oppassen!!!
I loved to meander a little again!!
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| I finished this crib today |
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Deze patronen zijn gratis te downlooaden voor eigen, niet commercieel, gebruik. Als je mijn patronen gebruikt, vermeld dan mijn naam en link in je blogbericht naar de patronen op mijn blog. Ik zou het leuk vinden een foto van je werk met mijn patronen te ontvangen.
So nice of you to stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment. I love it.
Fijn dat u langs kwam. Ik waardeer het als u een bericht achter laat..
Love from Amsterdam and keep sewing
Maartje maartjequilt@gmail.com
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