winter embroidery

This is a design by Marjolein Bastin, one of a series of four of the four seasons. My mother received this as a kit many many years ago and sometimes I would find it at the back of the closet and ask if I could please have it, or if not, at least make it for her. I don't remember when she finally gave in, but it must have been right before I graduated from highschool. This was my first big embroidery project and I started working on it after I first moved to Germany. I loved the colours and the different small details of the design.

The matting was done in the Summer in 2001. Doug had a special ruler and a 45 degree knife for cutting matting and a few of us went to an art store to choose matting. Looking at colors and thinking through different combinations is one of my favorite things.

Two years ago when we were looking for a place for our wedding reception and for a place where guests could spend the night we found a small hotel/bed and breakfast in the middle of the Veluwe. We had been driving and looking at places all day and were pretty discouraged. We walked up to this place wondering if anyone was around and were promptly invited into the dining room and served coffee while the owner went to get his books to talk with us. As we sat there sipping our coffee I saw that the other three seasons were embroidered and hanging on the wall. It ended up being the place where our guests stayed, and I would have liked to as well!