A postcard from Holland

The sunshine and very warm (almost reassuring, I would say!) temperatures of the last weeks, here at Casa Cenina, have let us feel even closer to our Festa del Ricamo... Deep down in our hearts, needless to say, we do hope this sunshine is going to be with us the first weekend of June, too, when we'll be waiting for you, for our Festa del Ricamo, and when your samplers will be exhibited, to be showcased as they certainly deserve
But there's one more reason to "hope" for the warm sunshine of Central Italy on the two days of our greatest yearly event... As we had already told you some time ago, in fact, our "guest star" is going to be the President of the Dutch Sampler Society, Afke Wullink Semplonius who, as it often happens with our friends from Northern Europe, we believe is expecting to see a sunny Italy So, while we keep on hoping to make her happy in this sense, though knowing quite well that does not depend on us (but being optimistic helps for sure!!!), we're steadily in touch with her, who's interested in following how the contest is going and is looking forward to seeing your little "masterpieces" from real So, we've asked her to tell us something more about herself, revealing how and why she has come so close to the amazing world of samplers, as well as to share with us all her experiences and know how. And Afke, a truly "nordic" and practical lady, didn't take long to go straight to the point! So she has given us some more details, in a concise, though pleasant way, actually telling us something more on herself and her beloved samplers So, here following, you can read the text of her "postcard" for you:

"Samplers have become a part of my life. When I discovered a sampler from our family at an aunt, I made one myself, from a magazine in Holland, called Ariadne. But in 1977 I started with classes in how to design samplers. Actually all the samplers from those who visit my class are very personal. It is your own story, history made with needle and thread. People who join the class have a lot of joy and devotion. There is no chart as you make that yourselves.
We also us a lot of different stitches, as you get fine shades in the same color range. This year it will be 35 years ago that I started with teaching this class and there have been made hundreds of samplers under my jurisdiction. And I always enjoy when new people come, everyone has their own ideas. Therefore the samplers nowadays are different than those of 35 years ago. Stitching gives a lot of enjoyment and relaxation. Besides that a sampler represents a piece of emotion of the stitcher.
I am really looking forward to go to Italy and to see how others deal with the subject samplers. I will bring pictures of our samplers.
See you soon!"

So, you now know something more about Afke, who's going to express her "judgement" on your samplers and we already know, you're not going to let her down with your works

Happy sampler everyone and ... Hear from us soon!