Fun, Quilts and Inspirations

One of our must-do things in the Netherlands is a visit to Staphorst and Rouveen. They are well known for being ultra-conservative communities where many women still wear traditional outfits. We often see these, but we go there mostly for a couple of special businesses.

ROËL is a fun toy / souvenir / home decorating store. It is the most unlikely place from the outside, but inside is absolutely jammed with great stuff that you just won't find anywhere else.

There are 4 aisles in ROËL and every one of them is filled with stuff like this. At the end of the aisle, you can see their Delftware selection.

These push-bikes are made entirely from wood, and have pneumatic tires. We actually saw some grade-school aged kids riding these on a school outing yesterday when we were at Ribbels.

Pretty cool selection of riding toys. The motorcycles are wooden rocking-cycles.

 Stegeman's is one of the most fun quilt shops around. Not only do they have a ton of fabric, and lots of things you won't find anywhere else, they also have yarn, lace, clothing, shelf paper, "oilcloth" fabric for table cloths, and more!

I forgot to take any pictures inside Stegeman's today, so this one is from our last visit in 2008.

As far as I'm concerned, this is the real score of our trip to Stegeman's - the tag says "handgebreide €13,50" - hand knitted socks for €13.50. They fit wonderfully and make great evening-wear around the house!

I love the buildings in Rouveen and always take a few photos.

This place makes me feel like Bilbo Baggins should come strolling out of the door at any moment.

 

Although the village is proud of their traditional costume, the folks aren't keen on being photographed. This pair came around the corner as I as photographing the house behind them. The young girl was obviously convinced that "that guy with the camera" was going to take a picture of them. I love the decoration in the dress shield.

 Our trip was timed perfectly for taking in a quilt show that is only on display for a short time. We only learned about "Moderne Quilts & Antieke Tegels" after we arrived, but we knew we had to make it to the Nederlands Tegelmuseum to catch it. The museum is all about tile-making in the Netherlands, and the show was a display of modern quilts - many of them inspired by the tiles in the museum.

 

 

 

There were some modern tile pieces as well. I have no idea what a one-eyed frog has to do with bicycles, but somehow it seems appropriate that the reflection of the room lights looks like a shaft of light coming out of the eye - I think they are possessed!