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sinterklaas!

Yesterday was the 5th of December, which is when the Dutch holiday of Sinterklaasfeest is celebrated in Holland. I'm of Dutch background myself (I was born here, but my parents were born in Holland), so we kind of celebrate Sinterklaasfeest. Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of Santa Claus, but a little closer to the hagiographical roots in that he is actually a saint (the patron saint of children and sailors), not just some guy with a sleigh and magical powers. When I was little we'd have our extended family Christmas party on the 5th, and get one early present then. As I've gotten older, I've sort of gotten more interested in my Dutch heritage, and celebrating more of the Dutch holidays. And also, I'm kind of fed up with Christmas. Not the Birth-of-Christ celebration part of Christmas. I'm down with that. Its the go-to-the-mall-and-put-yourself-in-debt-by-buying-thing-you-don't-need aspect of Christmas that I'm not so enthusiastic about lately. You see, I work at the mall, and its like waiting tables at your favourite restaurant. After you've seen what goes on in the kitchen you are not longer as interested in eating there. Its the same thing with the over comercialization of Christmas. Its really started to bother me. That's not to say I won't be buying a few presents and putting up a tree, but really, I feel more like presents at Christmas should be a symbolic gesture about love, not the chance to get a new cell phone. I mean, a cell phone! Who gives a cell phone for Christmas? A lot of people apparently, if you believe the ads on TV, especially the parents of teenagers, but really, what does that say? Ok. I digress. My point is that I had a phone conversation with some friends from Montreal the other day, who also have a toddler, and are also reluctant about indulging in the full commercialism of Christmas. For example, they are not taking their little girl to the mall to sit on Santa's lap and have her picture taken. We had a great talk about it, why we don't want to do it, what we hope to convey as the meaning of Christmas to our small and impressionable children. How to fight the overwhelming power of commercialism, etc. It was so nice to talk to other parents whom I totally agree with on this issue, and not to feel like some sort of hippie/grinch who doesn't want her kids to have fun. 

And then the very next day I went and did this: 

I brought the Little Dude to see Sinterklaas. 

Now, here's how I think that its different from going and seeing Santa at the mall.

First of all, it wasn't at the mall. It was at the little tiny Dutch Food Store here in our little town. Its the store where we go to buy good cheese and salted licorice and speculaas cookies. So it was hardly the bustling centre of commerce that the local mall is. Also, I want the little Dude to be able to relate to his heritage. And I didn't try to connect Sinterklaas and recieving gifts at all. I just said "Lets go meet that guy. His name is Sinterklaas." And I did not make L.D. sit on his lap. I always think that's the most traumatic part of the whole Santa at the mall thing. Toddlers especially cannot be rushed into new aquantainces, and its kind of mean to try and get them to sit on an excessively bearded stranger, just to have a picture for the Christmas card. 

Anyhow, this Sinterklaas was very nice and did not do a lot of excessive jollying of him, or ho ho ho-ing or ask if he'd been a 'good boy' this year. And he did not try to get him on his lap. But he did offer to let L.D. hold his cane/staff thingy, which he was quite interested in. 

And we did take a picture, but the Little Dude is sitting securely on his Daddy's lap, next to Sinterklaas. 

Anyhow, small differences mean a lot to me. Its inevitable that the Little Dude will want to get some stuff for Christmas. I just don't want him to think that that is all the holiday is about. Maybe I'm splitting hairs, (after all, Sinterklaas is not without his problematic aspects, and most people in Holland don't really celebrate him as a saint anymore) but a lot of parenting comes down to that in the end. Little choices, little steps away from the larger, unquestioned culture that surrounds us. 

Anyhow, what the Little Dude took away from that experience seems to be the fact that he got a cookie from the lady who rung up our cheese and droopjes that day. It was a speculaas cookie, and he's been talking about it all week. Its funny what sticks and what doesn't. He remembered the food not the Saint. What can I say, he's definitely my kid. 

quilt sandwich

Today I FINALLY got my quilt sandwich laid out. I've had the quilt top finished since before the Baby's birthday, and the quilt back put together shortly thereafter, but it has taken me forever to find the batting I wanted to go in between. I'm kind of picky about quilt batts, as they are basically the 'guts' of the quilt, and when you put this kind of time and effort into the 'skin' of something (aka the top) you want to use really good innards for it. That being said I was looking for 100% cotton. This should not be so hard to find, and I know its the Dream Cotton from Quilter's Dream that I wanted, but it was very hard to find one in stock in KING SIZE in a local shop. Have I mentioned that this is a big friggen' quilt? Or that we're not exactly swimming in quilt shops around here? Anyhow, I finally found on the other day, at a shop close to my sister's house, so when I went to visit her last week, I had a chance to pick it up. And today, during nap time, I actually had time to lay out the sandwich.

For those of you who read my blog, but are not quilters, a 'quilt sandwich' refers to the layering of the three components or strata of a quilt: the back, the batting and the top. These layers have to be lined up, smoothed out carefully so as to prevent bunching and wrinkles when they are quilted, and then basted together so that they don't shift around during the actual quilting.  
I find this part of the process rather arduous, and finicky, and very hard to do by yourself. There is a lot of crouching down and standing up, and then walking from one end to the other, only to realize that the whole thing is slightly crooked, and that you need to start all over again. And of course, the top kind of sticks to the batt, and the batt is kind of stretchy, like pizza dough, so you have to be careful when you smooth it not to stretch it out too much... suffice it to say its kind of a pain in the butt. Especially with a quilt this big. I might have already told you that this is KING SIZED! yup. big. Luckily, my kind Hubs lent me a hand with this which made for improved efficiency and less swearing. And now this step is done. I pin basted the whole thing (though I kind of ran out of pins, so its done a bit sparsely and I'd like to add a few more, but that's another trip to the store) and now all that's left is the quilting. Yeah, just that, the crazy back-breaking labour part. Ha! Don't worry, I'll save a whole other post for complaining about how hard the actual quilting of this monster will be. 

By the way, I do this as a hobby. Because I enjoy it. Just in case you can't tell from my descriptions. Really, its very satisfying. Though its kind of a Calvinist hobby when you think about it. 

And now for something completely different.
How cute are they? My son and my niece, in their proud orange duds. Yes, we did watch 'the game' this weekend, which will surprise those of you who know me well, as I don't have a sports loving bone in my body. However, all my bones are Dutch/Canadian, so I had to tune in, just out of nationalistic pride. Also, my parents don't have their TV set up yet, and my Dad wanted to watch the game. And my sister was in town with two of her kids, and they all have soccer pulsing through their veins, so I became the unsuspecting host of a World Cup Party. Hey, put the words 'host' and 'party' together and I'm in. So even though we lost, it was fun. And win or loose, that Baby looks pretty darn cute in his little jersey. Thanks for sending it Oma!

Its raining babies.

We've been having the weirdest precipitation lately....

...but who's complaining because hey, free baby.

ha ha. Obviously he didn't fall from the sky (though we think he came from heaven.... awwww...)This is just a game of being tossed in the air. 

So on a baby-related sewing note, my next project is making him a proper Hallowe'en costume. This is technically his second Hallowe'en, but last year he did not have a costume, just a Hallowe'en-themed onesie and some stripe-y pants. This year I want to do it right, and make him an actual costume. I've always loved the masquerade side of Hallowe'en, and of course, the candy. For years I would make my nieces' and nephew's costume with them, but I live farther away from them than I did in the good old days, and two thirds of them are probably too old to make costumes with their Aunt any more. 

Anyhow, I want to make the baby a Gnome costume. A 'Kabouter' (Gnome in Dutch) costume in fact. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, there is a Dutch painter named Rien Poortvleit, who illustrated these books about Gnomes. I've always liked them, they are so detailed and beautifully illustrated, and full of fairy-story creepiness. Anyhow, I thought it'd be a good costume. So I've got the pattern for the tall pointy hat thanks to the Bend the Rules sewing book by Amy Karol of Angry Chicken (one of my daily-read blogs, I totally recommend it). But now I'm looking for a simple smock-style toddler sized shirt that I could sew for him. Any idea where I could find a pattern for that? Leave a comment below if you have any suggestions. 

Anyhow, I'm gonna go and see if I can catch some baby-rain.

awesome bike accessories

Ok, just a short one today, because I just got off a 4 hour plus embroidery jag. Very small stitches, all text, so my eyes are feeling...um, how do I describe that feeling... warm. Like how your ear feels after a long phone call from a far away friend. I call it hot cauliflower ear. So I guess the occular equivalent is hot beet eyes? Ok, you see how I'm rambling, that's how tired I am.

Anyways, this is awesome. It's a crocheted bike fender cover (obviously) that I saw last time I was in Holland. It makes me miss Holland, which makes me miss bikes, which makes me miss Montreal. sigh. Ok, another sign of the tiredness is that I become maudlin and/or sentimental quickly, so I should add that I didn't bike anywhere in Montreal for the last year I was there as I'd had the baby that year and did not feel up to risking his precious little neck along with my own. But I miss biking here in Ontario, because the only people who bike in small town Ontario are kids. But I'm going to try and bust out a bike soon, before its too cold or before I forget how. And then I should make myself a fender cover and one of these snappy little bike seat covers to match. And then I'll be all set.