June Star

I am posting this a day early, as I will be on a day trip tomorrow. My June Star is Simone de Klerk, and I am so happy to have gotten to know her through our blogs. She and I have so much in common, and funny enough, I am also a gamer like her son, so that was a nice surprise. Simone is so talented, but more importantly, she is a lovely person inside. You can see that in her smile and eyes in the pic of herself that she submitted. Enjoy Simone's wonderful interview below and visit her blog at http://simonedeklerk.blogspot.com/ . You will see how lovely her quilting and stitching is.

Here is Simone's wonderful interview:

· A Bit About Me:
My name is Simone de Klerk and I was born in Amsterdam. I am married to a sweet husband and am a mother to a wonderful daughter, who is doing her final exams at the moment and will be leaving home in August to study in Amsterdam and to a great son who still goes to high school and loves winning games and prices on Playstation 3. Then I also have a beagle that lets me take her for a walk every morning for more than an hour.
We live in Heerlen, the southern part of the Netherlands in a quiet neighborhood with beautiful places to go for a walk.
I work as a remedial teacher, helping children who have learning problems at a regular school. This is a very fun and satisfying job, which I am able to do at home.

· What Insprires Me:
I have been thinking about this question for a while and decided to answer it in connection with patchwork and stitchery. All the beautiful projects I find on the many blogs I visit inspire me enormously! Many bloggers have such wonderful ways with colors and patterns. And sometimes the most simple things can make something so beautiful!
The wonders of nature also influence me, as well as visiting exhibitions, such as the one of Viktor & Rolf. And of course the things that happen in daily life, can give me inspiration.

· What I Love to Do the Most Creatively:
Ever since I can remember, I have been creative with fabrics, threads, needles and yarn. Several years ago I taught groups to make Steiner dolls with only natural materials. I also learned them to make seasonal dolls and other figures, such as toadstools, flowers, chestnuts etc. Creating these dolls and then seeing how children played with them, cuddled them and how they could give comfort to older children, was very special.
After having done that for a few years and my children becoming older, I had the feeling I had to start something new. That is when I discovered quilting and patchwork. This creativeness has enriched my life enormously in many different ways. And since a year, stitchery has become a new passion along with. How I love to see a stitchery pattern develop stitch after stitch after stitch and then being able to create a quilt or wallhanging with it.

I also enjoy reading (novels, biographies, thrillers), listening to music, gardening, walking and of course blogging (which sometimes - read: very often - takes up too much of my time).

· My Favorite Fabric and Designer:
I don't really have a favorite fabric. Normally I buy what I like, with no special intention. The fun part (and sometimes frustrating part) is to find the right match to the fabrics in the stash you already have.
Lately, I have discovered that it is very nice to buy fabrics within a line. I was given a Snippets Jelly Roll by American Jane for Moda. How those colors and patterns fit so perfectly together is wonderful. Yet, it does not alow you to 'play' with fabrics in a suprising way, if you stay within the line. At least, that is my experience. But I do find it very much fun to look at it and work with it!
When I think of a favorite designer, four pop up in my mind: Cheryl of Willowbery Designs, Me & Melly, Gail Pan and Natalie Ross.

· UFO I Intend to Finish First:
I have been working on a charity quilt. The top was finished in no time. And that was it. So I really want to get that one finished soon!

· What’s on the Design Wall Now:
Together with a blogging friend I am working on Leanne's House, the quilt with the hearts and flowers. For this month we want to finish the first block.
I am also working on three free stichery BOMs: Verandah Views, Christmas Wish and Once upon a time.
Furthermore, I almost finished a stitchery for a friend of mine who is expecting her third son at the end of May.

· Who Would I Love to Meet:
This does not sound very original, but I would love to meet some I the wonderful blogging friends I made over the past few months. It seems as though I've known them for ages. People are so incredibly kind and it is so much fun to share the same passion and find comfort when times are not always so good!


· If I Had One Wish:
If I had one wish, I would wish to become old healthy and happy and see my children growing up in a peaceful world.

· Plans for the Future:
I don't really have plans for the future. I try to take the day as it comes and not plan too much ahead of time. This gives me a peaceful feeling, which I think is very important in this hectic world we live in.

I really enjoyed reading her interview. I am including some of her wonderful work.

First, there Truly Scrumptions, by Cinderberry Stitches, which is one of Simone's favorite stitchery and designer:

Then there is a good luck heart that Simone made for her daughter.

Also Simone loved making this stitchery, which is a pattern by Lynette Anderson:

This is one of Simone's favourite paintings that she bought several months ago, because of the colour explosion, and she loves to sit and watch the painting so much!

Here is another stitchery pattern that Simone made from a pattern from German designer Usula Schertz:

Finally, this is a quilt that she made for her daughter Laura:

Thanks so much for an inspiring interview Simone and for also being my friend! I hope that one day Joe and I can visit Holland and meet you. Wouldn't that be just perfect?