Friday, July 21, 2017

Translating German

I fell in love with Bernadette Mayr's quilts when I ran across her book Modern Nature Inspired Quilts. 

This is her only book that is in English translation.   At the exact time of the flood I was working on a white batik and taupe solid quilt with snow and intricate trees.  I had one whole tree completed.  No idea where that is now.

The Swimming Pool is her design as well.  I will finish that up after I get back from North Carolina. 

Then I saw the Goldfish.  I emailed her to see if that book was translated into English.  It was an amazing book.  But alas, it was not.

She graciously sent me a copy of the pages of instructions, in German!  She also sent me a handmade card and some post cards with images of her quilts.  Including the one I was working on, Winter Wonderland, and

So I talked to my friend who is a PhD in Language Studies and speaks fluent German.  She is at a dog show this weekend in Houston, but I am having a go at it with a translator app.

German is an interesting language.  After I got the cadence going, I could figure out some words.  Like wasser, is water.  So I guess people who are named Wasserman might have been fisherman or boatmen at one time. 

After a while wasser sort of looks like water.  Now it was seerosenblatter that threw me.  Turns out it is waterlily.  Blatter is leaf, so if you know that it makes sense.  Then there were some really great words.....like quiltgarn for thread.  Don't you just love that?  Even better....mitteldickes means batting.  Gotta use that one in the quilt guild.

Of course the name of the quilt is Goldfischteich.  You can work that one out yourself.






5 comments:

  1. I looked her up and she does the free form cutting very artistically. I like her landscape book from what I can see of it. Did you see the one with the leaves? very modern. whats the goldfish one? I guess I should wait to see when you make it though, right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just googled the goldfish quilt (sorry but couldn't wait) and then realized that you could do a series having to do with the flood. The swimming pool, the goldfish - any camper quilts out there? lol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Seems you have posted before on this artist and her book. I remember looking it up. Good that you can stick with 'learning' German through this book! HA

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was so nice of Bernadette to help you out. The closest thing to German I know is one word in Pennsylvania Dutch and I am not sure of the spelling but her it goes - mookaslopal - means flyswatter. LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're just talented beyond compare. Who teaches herself enough of a new language to make a quilt? I'm going to have to look her up now and see what the buzz is about. Love getting to "know" new artists!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from friends! Thanks for leaving a message!