For the love of African Fabrics

Still from my introduction to Box Making video

A few days ago I was interviewed by Miriam Galadima - Benson of Quilts Africa Fabrics in Nigeria. We talked about our passion for African Fabrics and I showed her a few of my quilts. Due to delayed internet connection the video is sometimes blurred and not always in sync. This created hilarious moments! ;)

The interview is now on my Youtube channel.

In the first part of this video is a short introduction video to box-making included. At 21 minutes the interview starts where I tell a little bit about my creative journey and show some of my African Quilts.

Introduction to Box Making video

If you would like to watch the introduction to Box Making video only (or have a better sight) click on the link here below! Maybe even better: subscribe to my channel!

Have fun watching!

Groetjes, Hilde

Facebook event about the African Fabrics this week!

This week you can join the online summit organised by Quilt Africa Fabrics! For free!

For 4 days, from the 8th till the 11th of July, every day from 1PM - 4PM EST (7 - 10 pm Amsterdam time), there will be 3 speakers who will talk about their inspirations and their work with African Fabrics.

All the speakers will be live!

And I will be there too!

This coming Saturday, July 11th, at 2PM EST (8PM Amsterdam) I will show you in a short video how I make a box using a bold African print, followed by an interview with Miriam from Quilt Africa Fabrics.

The only thing you need to do is register for this Live Facebook event HERE.

If you can't watch the artists life you will be able to watch the sessions on a later time.

Hope to see you there!

Groetjes, Hilde

Spring Sale at Geckoboxes!

Since all craft markets, exhibitions and you name it have been canceled for the coming months I had to make up my mind!

I was supposed to have a stand at the Textile Festival 2020 next month and made

 quite a few boxes in different colours and sizes. As some are bigger than others and I have not really the space to keep them all hiding until next year's Festival, I decided to have a SPRING SALE at my Etsy shop!

Hop on over to my tiny WebShop and have a look around.

I ship worldwide ;)

Groetjes, Hilde 

A Box Update!

As promised: a picture of the final result of the hatboxes with their clasps and handles! 

The blue coloured leather matches beautiful with the fabric.

And on to the next deadline for my handmade boxes! 

In about 2 weeks time I will be joining the 'Wintersalon' of the Maaskoe Gallery in Rotterdam. Together with other artists I will be showing my boxes and some of my quilts and wall art! The walls and tables will be full of art and all will be for sale!

However, since we have a Parson Russell Terrier puppy my time in my studio is much less than I thought it would be! He is very interested in the cardboard pieces of the boxes... ;)

Still I managed to make a nice selection of different boxes like tea caddies,

gift boxes and boxes for all kinds of little treasures.

If you are in the area and still need some handmade Christmas presents please hop by at the 

Maaskoe Gallery and maybe you will find the perfect gift for your loved ones! 

The exhibition is on from December 14th until 29th, Thursday through Sunday 12.00 - 17.00.

Groetjes, Hilde

Back to the studio!

It's been a while since I posted last time but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything! My strength is coming back, physically as well as emotionally, and very important: it's starting to itch to go back into my studio and start making again!

I was lucky to have had an order to make hatboxes and slowly get back into making. First I made a sample with African fabrics which turned out really well if I may say so ;)

The front

The back/bottom with the hinges made out of fabric

Done!

After this one was approved I was asked to make 8 more with fabric provided for by 'Queen of Your Castle', a special coaching program for women to build up inner strength.

They embroidered their logo on the fabric for the lid before giving it to me. The handles and clasps will be added onto the boxes later by the client. Hope to show you a picture later!

Happy to be making again!

Cheers, Hilde

Gecko Boxes Parade

Mocht je je afvragen of ik misschien ook nog doosjes maak tussen de quilttops door, dan kan ik je geruststellen: kijk maar hieronder

If you have been wondering if I still make boxes in between sewing quilt tops, then the answer is yes! Just have a look:

Tea Box with 4 compartments

Tea box with 6 compartments

Two boxes to hold postcard and letters send from around the world

De volgende dozen zijn aan de buitenkant bekleed met boekbinders linnen en decoratief papier en aan de binnenkant met een Afrikaanse print.

The following boxes are covered with bookbinders cloth and decorative papers on the outside 

and an African print on the inside.

Farewell present for a friend

And one more friend was leaving Ghana...

En als toegift:

Last but not least:

Mocht je nu zelf een doosje willen maken, kijk dan bovenaan deze pagina onder het kopje Tutorials Box Making. Daar vind je alle instructiefilmpjes waarmee je zelf aan de slag kan gaan!

If you want to make your own box check the tap Tutorials Box making at the top of this page. There you find all the instruction videos which gets you started with making boxes.

Groetjes, Hilde

My Box Making tutorials are now on YouTube!

Eindelijk is het zover!

Voor iedereen die zo graag zelf een doos zou willen maken na het zien van mijn doosjes bekleed met stof heb ik goed nieuws!

De eerste tutorial staat al on line op mijn YouTube kanaal. Ook handig voor als je al wel eens een workshop bij mij hebt kunnen doen, maar vergeten bent hoe het ook alweer moest.

For all of you who would like to make a box after seeing my boxes covered with fabric here is good news! From now on I will be posting tutorials on a regular basis about Box Making on my YouTube channel! The first tutorial is already on line. For those of you who have been able to do a workshop with me but forgot some of the different steps, this one is for you.

With the help of my son I am getting a lot done this Holiday Season

Stap voor stap laat ik je zien wat er allemaal komt kijken bij het maken van verschillende dozen. Hoe je het karton meet, snijdt, lijmt en hoe de stof er aan de buiten- en binnenkant op aan te brengen.

Step by step I take you through the whole process of how-to make a box from scratch, how to measure and cut, glue and cover with fabric and how to work on the inside of the box.

Screenshot from the tutorial Beginners' Box

De Beginners Doos komt als eerste aan bod. In ongeveer 10 stappen laat ik je zien hoe je de doos kan maken en eerste les staat al on-line op YouTube. Je kunt je ook gratis aanmelden bij mijn kanaal zodat je geen video hoeft te missen. Je krijgt dan automatisch bericht als ik er weer een nieuwe video opzet. 

The first tutorial is about the Beginners Box.

In about 10 steps I guide you through the whole process.

If you don't want to miss any of the tutorials you can subscribe to my YouTube channel for free. You will be automatically be notified when I post a new video.

Hier is alvast de eerste video te zien met een introductie naar Gecko Boxes!

Start right here with my introduction to Gecko Boxes!

Veel plezier! Hope you like it!

Groetjes, Hilde 

Another Box talk post ;)

Er zijn weer dozen gemaakt in de afgelopen weken. Heel fijn vooral als ik nog geen goed omlijnd plan heb voor een nieuwe quilt. Door de spelen met de verschillende stofdesigns ontstaat er vast wel een nieuw idee... En ondertussen maak ik een paar bestellingen af.

I have been a bit quite with blogging but busy with cardboard in the past few weeks. Especially when I have no worked out plan for a quilt, I love to play with fabric in another way. Slowly a new quilt plan will come up... At the same time I am working on some orders for boxes!

 Starting from scratch

 Looking for the final touch

 Finished!

3 Tea Boxes:

Last but not least: 

Groetjes, Hilde 

Back in Holland and boxes on the shelves!

Heerlijk om weer even in Nederland te zijn! Even weer frisse lucht inademen, de vrijheid hebben om te gaan en staan waar en wanneer ik wil. De enorme keuze in de supermarkt en .... nou ja, bijna alles. Ik heb het er eigenlijk nooit over, maar persoonlijk vind ik het niet geweldig om in de grote stad Accra te wonen in Ghana. Alleen het werken met de prachtige Afrikaanse stoffen vind ik leuk, verder is er nauwelijks iets te beleven. Het positieve hiervan is dat ik weinig sociale verplichtingen heb en mij volledig kan storten op het maken van quilts en dozen. Daarnaast wordt ik weinig beïnvloed door verschillende stromingen en kan ik dus helemaal mijn eigen stijl ontwikkelen. Daar ben ik superblij mee! 

Vandaar dus de grote productiviteit! ;)

I am back in Holland for a few weeks and I am loving it! It's great to be able to go outside and breath fresh air, enjoy the well stocked grocery stores, biking and more. I actually never talk about it but Accra isn't the nicest place to live. There is not so much to do and only the African fabrics keep me sane. The positive effect of this situation is that I don't have much social commitments and I can spend all my time on designing quilts and making boxes. I am able to develop my own style and I am very happy about that. Hence my productivity! ;)

Een paar dozen en quilts heb ik mee naar Nederland genomen om ze van daaruit via Etsy te kunnen aanbieden. Het is gewoon veel makkelijker om ze in Nederland op de post te doen!

A few of my boxes and quilts I brought with me to Holland to sell them trough my Etsy shop.

It's simply easier to do so from there.

In mijn Etsy winkeltje kun je nog meer items vinden:

Want to see more? Check out my Etsy shop:

www.geckoboxes.etsy.com

Items available until October 8th

Groetjes, Hilde

Spiderweb design on African fabric

Het spelen met de verschillende Afrikaanse designs blijft boeiend!

Wat vind je van dit spinnenweb motief?

It's never a boring moment when playing with the different African designs on fabric!

What do you think of this spiderweb design?

Dit doosje is 12 x 16 cm en 8 cm hoog

This little box measures 4.5 x 6.5" and is 3" high

Het is elke keer spannend hoe het motief zich om het kartonnen doosje vouwt

Every time again it's so much fun to see how the designs wraps around the cardboard box

De schuine zijkant maakt de doos geschikt voor (business-) kaartjes.

The slanted side makes this box suitable for (business-) cards.

En zo ziet de stof er in zijn geheel uit!

This is how the whole piece of cloth looks like!

Groetjes, Hilde

Fun with African Wax Print 'Nsu Bra'

Een van mijn lievelings-designs van de Afrikaanse prints is de 'Nsu Bra' print. Dit betekent in de Ghanese Twi taal waterput omdat het lijkt op de kringen die in het water ontstaan na het gooien van een steentje. In Nigeria heet de stof Plague-Plague omdat het ronde ontwerp volgens hun lijkt op de vinyl langspeelplaten. Het design staat prachtig op de sieradendoos met lade!

One of my favourite designs of the African fabrics is the 'Nsu Bra' print. This is from the Ghanaian Twi language and means water well. In Nigeria it's  called Plague-Plague because the circulair designs reminds people of the vinyl records. This design works great on the two-tier jewellery box!

Zo ziet 1 yard van de stof eruit

This is how 1 yard of fabric looks like

Nsu Bra on 'white cloth'

Groetjes, Hilde