Trip Souvenirs--Part 2

Following my recent post about fabric souvenirs in Nice, I thought it would be fun  to talk about some other places where I have acquired fabric in my travels.  After all, there's always a story behind the purchase.:))

In 2008 Mr D and I took a river cruise in the Netherlands starting from Amsterdam.  We like this type of cruising because the boats all make stops in little towns that are  historically preserved.  They all have weekly outdoor markets that have been going on in the same town square for a thousand years. Hard to grasp for us Americans, huh?  I LOVE the markets--the sights, the smells, the music.  It's always quite festive.  Anyway, we came into a small town called Middleburg and into the town square with its stalls of vegetables and fruits and what did I see?  A FABRIC DISPLAY!! I'm telling you, I was speechless for about 5 seconds. Mr D said, "What, what?" and I could only point. Now my overreaction might have been due to jetlag but, honestly, it was the last thing I expected.

I immediately started pawing through the piles and could see that it was good quality.  I spoke with another customer, a local woman, who said she came there every week and had been doing so for years. She wanted to know if I was from England and seemed surprised when I told her that I was from the USA.  My biggest problem was (and always is) how much could I fit into the suitcase?  We always take carryons only when we travel and they're pretty full.  Mr D stood by patiently while I came up with this:

These are all cotton, about 1 3/4 yards and were 6 euros per piece.  The middle photo shows the details of the top one.  I had to work fast so went for color only. I haven't made either of them up yet, afraid to screw up, I guess.

It just goes to show that you never know what could be just around the corner.