a finished quilt in Keukenhof Flower Garden

We all know what happens if you give a mouse a cookie; but, what happens if a quilter plans a trip to Keukenhof, the famous Dutch flower garden?

This happens! Haha.

I totally brought a finished quilt (or two) along on our outing. The vibrant flowers are a beautiful setting in which to photograph this Bear Tracks quilt, a charity quilt created together with Comfort Circle of do Good Stitches. My bee mates used the pattern from my book, The Quilter’s Field Guide to Color: a Hands-on Workbook for Mastering Fabric Selection.

I made some extra blocks to fill out the rainbow and assembled the blocks last month. Now she is finished with looping continuous eight quilting, a soft contrast for all those pointy bear paw blocks. The quilt is bound in a rainbow striped fabric from The Confident Stitch. I actually was not thinking of binding when I added that fabric to my stash last year, but it is actually perfect as binding on a rainbow scrap quilt! I’m tempted to buy more.

So, Keukenhof at last! I’ve been wanting to make a visit to this rambling flower garden since we moved to The Netherlands. This month Aria is home from college for a few weeks, so it seemed a nice chance to spend the day together. In truth we were a tad early. The park was beautiful, but so much was almost, almost in bloom. Mid to late April would be better, this year. Every year the ideal timing is a little different, of course.

Keukenhof is famous for its flowering bulbs. The flowers are planted in dramatic, dense groupings. Aria and I enjoyed the sights and smells, even if it did rain all day.

Literally, all day.

Yes, these quilts braved the rain rather than miss their chance at Keukenhof, lol. Those dots in this photo of the quilt back are probably water droplets. We were all brave about it. And, to look at the upside, a rainy Thursday was less busy for sure.

At the edge of the Keukenhof gardens they have planted some fields of bulbs so that tourists can see how the flowers are really cultivated in Dutch farmland. The fields make enormous stripes of color that are truly delicious to behold.

We tried a photograph along the fields, but it was too windy! Aria and I decided I should include this one for the laughs.

If you find yourself in The Netherlands in April or early May, definitely make time to visit Keukenhof gardens. Even if you can’t bring a quilt to photograph, I am fairly certain that you will leave with ideas for new quilts dancing in your head - a gift from the colorful flowers!