Skip to main content

Project Updates: Boutis and More!

It's that time of the year, and we're on the road again. Well, we're almost on the road again. By this time next week, I should be sitting at my desk in Montpellier and posting my blog from there. Hopefully the sun will be streaming through the windows with a warming hug, welcoming us back to the clear blue skies of the south of France. After a winter of oppressive dark clouds and of unusually heavy rains, the blue sky will be welcome.

For the flight over, aside from the usual books and magazines to keep me occupied and entertained, I like to have a further variety of options to choose from.

My hummingbird boutis has seen some progress and will come along with me. Cording does not require the same precision accuracy as stitching does, so it's a good project for travel.

As you can see, there is still quite a bit of cording to do.

Because redwork is easier to see when lighting is less than optimal, it is also a good project for travel.

These four little embroidery pieces will find themselves as part of a bedding ensemble, or perhaps set into some natural linen and made into a cushion for the couch.

Redwork works together well with the red and white toile de jouy that is so popular all over France.I like the muted white of muslin as a base for redwork.


This redwork goddess is inspired by another piece of toile de jouy that I have since used up, but I think she will partner just fine with this piece of toile de jouy as well.

I have not yet decided what her final destination will be.

Last summer, while I was taking classes in boutis from Madame Francine Born, I purchased several of her designs, preprinted onto cotton batisite. She sells her kits as well as the required materials for boutis on her website. www.boutis.fr

This one, titled "Le Mireille", is coming along to France and will provide many happy hours of stitching.

Sadly, my whole cloth quilt did not get nearly the attention this past winter as I had hoped it would. It will stay here and wait for my return in late summer.


When in France, I tend to focus on boutis because those resources are readily available there. For that reason, I am not taking a lot of other work with me. There is a small stash of quilting fabrics waiting for me there as well, so hopefully some traditional quilting will take place over the spring/summer. I will continue to post my progress as well as any new, fun finds.

 Talk to you soon!



Labels:

Comments

  1. MonicaMarch 17, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    Have a safe journey! Your redwork pieces are beautiful. So much detail.

    Le Mireille was my favourite project on Madame Born's site, so I am looking forward to seeing it progress. I may yet be tempted on that one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seams FrenchMarch 20, 2013 at 11:05 AM

      Hi Monica. With all of the beautiful hand work that you do, I'm sure that you would like working on boutis and Mme. Born's designs are very traditional to the art. I hope you try it.

      Delete

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