We stumbled upon a fabric store in Rotterdam -- about 2 blocks from the hotel! And this is my third year at that same hotel. You would have thought I could have smelled it at least! But we were just taking a stroll and noticed fabric in the window. Walking in we noticed it was mostly dress making fabric. But then noticed some basement steps......and found the basement was full of cotton fabrics! Woo hoo! I got a batik, maybe for a purse or bag of some type. I resisted on any more. What I liked though was that they had ALL kinds of colors and sizes of gingham check--in 100% cotton! Most of our gingham here in the US is a blend with polyester. (great if you are making kids clothes, not great for quilters). Here is what I bought... never mind...nothing special and I forgot to take a picture of it. :)
In Amsterdam, we went to Den Haan and Wagenmakers..
where they have authentic reproduction Dutch fabric..... for a price. :) It is such beautiful chintz fabric. I bought some a few years ago, and it's still aging in my closet, so I resisted. I did find a book that just came out in English that I've been waiting for, "A History of Dutch Quilts" by An Moonen. I'm going to do a post later on this fabulous book.
After the little detour on Saturday and not being able to get to the quilt shop in Antwerp, I told my friend Pat I would get her to a couple in Paris for sure! The first place I took here (in a few textile shops up by Sacre Coeur) didn't really pan out authentic French cotton fabrics. They are a much better price up there vs. the quilt shop. But since they had just a few in colors she didn't want, we toured the Basillica
and Montmartre (a neat artist's area)
while we were there and then headed back into the city.
Stopped at Notre Dame, toured the church
and the walked the couple of blocks to Le Rouvray.
NOT open! In fact, with a sign on the door. Closed for remodeling.
And a map of where they are temporarily located. Yeah right! It looks SO easy--see the little arrows on the map and ici (here)? There is not a straight street in Paris. Street signs are on the buildings. We tried to decipher the map, and ended up walking for 15 minutes. We decided to walk back to the shop, get the full address this time (smart, huh?) when we came upon the street! A very short street, but still no quilt shop. We walked back to get the address, and returned to the little street, which happened to be no more than 50 yards from the original shop! Found the address and peered in the gated windows, and yep...that was the shop all right. Closed today! I wonder if our husbands were behind this, we spent no money on fabric in two cities!
So, all in all, a cheap fabric buying trip! But so much fun in the search. And if you can't find fabric...buy pastries!
Au revoir!
It'd be fun. Although I've never skated on anything larger than a small pond or an indoor rink, should be an experience! But here is me, Agnes and Ted in front of a lake area in Friesland where there were hundreds of skaters enjoying the beautiful day.
I told her that my grandparents were from Holland and we never had anything like this. I guess Indonesion food became very popular in Holland after WWII. Many Dutch soldiers were stationed there and apparently brought back the cuisine. It's a bit like how I make my Fried Rice, brown rice, 
bacon, a bit of chicken, soy sauce (although she used a sweet version rather than a salty one?) and fried egg. The difference was that she added some herbs and spices (she used Nasi last night) but prefers this
(although it has noodles in it as well). She served it with a Rijsttaffel Mix (different peanuts--hot and spicy ones, ones mixed with coconut, a sweet mix and some onions) 
satey sauce (a peanut sauce-which I normally do not care for, but this one was good), fried bananas with a bit of brown sugar and some little puffy, crispy rice thingy?? (she says it's called Kroepoek). The whole meal was quite tasty. 
Posts
