Oldehove ... the Kaffe Fassett quilt

The Kaffe Fassett quilt , which was hung on the Oldehove in Leeuwarden this weekend to celebrate the Quilt exhibition at the Fries Museum , was perfect! The colours complimented the warm red bricks of the tower and cheered up what is usually a rather wind-swept square behind the centre of town .

On Saturday, in the early afternoon , quilting ladies ( you could tell ....they'd come , in groups of four or five , from all over Holland in their warm coats , colourful scarves and trendy glasses ) gathered by the tower and shivered and waited .

Sturdy men in yellow helmets looked purposeful round a crane and shivered . Then we all came to the conclusion that we were in the wrong place and surged into the town hall where nice waitresses were waiting with drinks and peanuts . Introductory speeches from local dignitaries and from Kaffe Fassett before we all surged out again to wait for the unveiling .

It was nice to see the odd young quilter in the crowd!

Then two sturdy men , who'd meanwhile climbed the tower and caught their breath , started hauling on the ropes and the quilt slowly rose to its full 80 feet.

It glowed in the grey afternoon light and I think we all wished it could stay.

Sadly, it was taken down on Sunday night and will be taken apart, the pieces to be sold for charity, I think.

But, Thank you to the 360 women who each made a 90 cm. square and to the many members of local quilting groups who assembled the quilt . They finally resorted to using a hangar at the local airfield .....the only place, out of the rain, where there was room enough to lay it out flat.