Skip to main content

"Boutis" is in the Eye of the Beholder

France, like many other European countries, claims a rich heritage and tradition in "needle arts". Many new sewing techniques and fabrics from the East found their way to France through the port city of Marseilles on the Meditteranean coast. The women from 17th century Marseilles and the lower regions of Provence and Languedoc, became very talented needle workers and were well known for their meticulous workmanship. It is these women that the developed the technique known as "boutis". "Boutis", as I understand it, is two pieces of fabric sewn together in channels, forming patterns. These channels are later threaded with cording, giving relief to the design. True "Boutis" ia always hand sewn, and when held up to the light lets the light pass through. (There are a many terms for "quilting" in France, and each term describes a different type of quilting. I am only beginning to understand the different techniques and terms, and hope that my definition is accurate, if not complete.)
While attending the quilt show in Nantes "Pour L'amour du Fil", I had the privilege to take a course in "Boutis" from M. Hubert Valery, a very talented fibre artist, specializing in this technique.Using only traditional stitching techniques for his pieces, M. Valery creates pieces that have a fresh, contemporary elegance. I have known of, and admired his work for a number of years from his website: www.boutisarchi.com, (or type in "Hubert Valeri, boutis" in your browser). When I saw that he was offering a course in "Boutis" at the show, I instantly registered for the course. There are a number of stitches that can be used in making "boutis", however, because this was a "debutant" class (beginner), we focussed on the running stitch. His technique for the running stitch is quite different from the "rock and roll" stitch that all hand quilters try to master. His technique works very well, however, and I hope to be able to adapt it to my "regular" hand quilting once I become a little more comfortable with it.
The photos I have included are of the work we started in class that day. As you can see, I have not made any progress since that day, however, finally being back from 6 weeks of travel, I hope to spend time in the next few months catching up with all things quilt related. Do look up his website for a better understanding of this beautiful quilting technique.
Labels:

Comments

  1. LeahJune 14, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    Wow, gorgeous photos! Great post, very informative!

    ReplyDelete
  2. EileenJune 16, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    The link for M. Valery is not valid, according to the internet. Do you have another?
    Your blog is so interesting; I'm glad I found you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boutis: Traditional French Needlework

" Piqûre de Marseilles" or "Boutis" is a traditional French hand stitched and corded needlework technique, which uses embroidery stitches to create intricate channels that will later be stuffed with yarn, thereby creating a raised design with three layers. It's origins, and it's name, can be traced to the port of Marseilles in southern France to the 15th century. Traditional boutis was a technique invented to embellish otherwise plain white cotton with intricately patterned channels that would later be stuffed with a plump white yarn to give it relief. The resulting corded whitework created an elegant, embossed textile that was much sought after. Not only was it aesthetically appealing, but it also provided warmth and absorbency, so could be used for bed coverings, toilette linens (like towels), clothing items, home decor, etc. The first two photos below are from the collection of Mme. Monique Alphand, a well known French expert and collector of antique t...
3 comments
Read more

Amish Hand Quilting in France with Esther Miller

Esther Miller, was born into an Amish family in the U.S., and now lives in Germany where she has for many years taught the techniques and methods of Amish hand quilting to anyone interested in learning these skills. As a child, she would closely watch as the women of her community worked together on a quilt, and eventually she was rewarded with a needle of her own and encouraged to join the group. Through the years, she has mastered these skills and techniques and now generously shares them with anyone who has a genuine desire to learn. Esther Miller in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace France. An example of her own work, Esther brings this intricately and perfectly hand stitched wall quilt to class as inspiration for her students.  Last week, at the "European Meeting of Patchwork" in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, in Alsace France, www.patchwork-europe.com , I had the privilege of taking a 2 day workshop with Esther. The Amish...
1 comment
Read more

Blocking and Squaring Boutis

The door of her cage has been opened. She is free to fly off and find her destiny. After many months of hand stitching and then many more months of cording, my little "colibri" is ready to set off on her own. As this was my first attempt at designing so large a boutis piece, it was a learning curve. All of the tight swirls, curls and circles are a great deal more difficult and time consuming to cord then are the longer more gentle channels. Maintaining an even tension is absolutely necessary throughout the process, so patience comes in very handy when doing the cording. The process of stitching and cording a work of boutis subjects the fabric to a lot of handling and manipulation that can distort the design. For this reason, once all of the stitching and cording is complete, the boutis must be washed, blocked and squared.  The first step of washing is to remove all traces of the marking pencil as well as any soil that may have collected over the many months of working w...
17 comments
Read more