Sunday, August 12, 2007

A weekend full of lace.....

The Lace Days in Brugge, Belgium are held each year in August. There are demonstrations from lacemakers around the world. Here are some of the young girls from the lace school who are lacemaking just outside the exhibition hall.

Inside the hall which is part of beer brewery "De Halve Maan", one of the oldest brewery in Belgium. There are stands set up for lacemaking groups from all over the world to share their craft with others.

Various pieces of lace are framed like artwork and put on display. Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the detail of the lace.

There is also lace in display cases set up throughout the hall so you can really examine the lace well.

Some lace really is a form of painting with thread rather than a functional piece. Notice this girl and the dog in the center of the lace.


This year, it was quite warm and sunny on Saturday so I felt for the girls sitting outside working at their cushions. Here some have decided to take a break.

And finally, what could be prettier to share with you but a windmill made entirely from bobbin lace? I feel very fortunate to live within easy distance to places like this where handwork is a part of the culture!

We enjoyed the weekend in Brugge and, as always, the people of this charming city are warm and friendly. We discovered a few new restaurants which will be added to our list of favorites and revisited with old friends.

10 comments:

Joanne said...

Heidi ~ Welcome home! What beautiful photos... and what gorgeous lace. The details are amazing when you click on the pictures and look at the enlarged versions. It sounds like you and Jos had a wonderful time. What did you eat in the new restaurants you found? :)
Hugs, Joanne

Nancy said...

Thanks for sharing Lace Days. My favorite is the windmill - I love windmills! What a wonderful event to be able to experience.

Suzann said...

Heidi,
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos! I am amazed at the skill required to create such lovely lace pieces. My favorite would have to be the piece with the girl and the dog although they all were splendid.
Suzann

Anonymous said...

Hi:
Hope you told Maggie Hi for me.
My favorite is the lace collar, the
first one.
Everything is great and my those girls are sooo young.
Glad you are home safe.
Love you, Mom

Mom2fur said...

I can only imagine the patience that goes into making those beautiful lace works of art! It must have been nice to see them 'in person.'

Kristen said...

Heidi, these pictures are wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing them with us! I love the detail in each one. You are so right about them being more like a painting! Wonderful! Glad you are home safely!

Tanya Willis Anderson said...

Heidi,
How absolutely wonderful a trip that must have been! Loved looking through the pictures and your telling of it all.

Anonymous said...

This is awesome Heidi! I am so happy that you are home. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pics with us!
Roberta Sutton

DaisyGirl said...

How cool to see that wonderful lace! Thanks for posting pictures. Lace making is not very popular here where I live! So pretty!
Donna

Solstitches said...

Oh my goodness!
Having just had a tiny taster of how lace is actually made I appreciate even more all the hours that go into making these gorgeous pieces.
What an experience it must be to be able to attne dthe lace days.
Thanks so much for sharing this.