Seams French

Le Mireille: "Des études de piqûres" ("A Study of Stitches") The central motif of "Le Mireille". Back in July of 2012, while we were still living in the south of France for part of each year, I had the privilege of taking classes in boutis with Madame Francine Born, as well as participating in the local boutis association . All of the women in the group are talented stitchers, skilled in the traditional technique, yet not afraid of allowing creativity a place. Less conventional types of threads and yarns, fabrics and stitches would sometimes be successfully incorporated into their work. Since that time, I have been eager to work on one of Mme. Born's traditional boutis designs, experimenting with the variety of stitches and threads being used by contemporary boutiseusses. "Le Mireille" is one of Madame Born's traditional designs. In her own class sample (below), she has used several different stitches as well as different weight

Other then the "Stars and Butterflies" quilt from my last post, the Bernina has been diligently stitching away at many other baby related goodies. Most were made for grandbaby H, but some were also made to be given as gifts to family and friends. The Bernina at Seams French was not the only one busy stitching before Christmas. During my daughter's pregnancy, hand stitching became a way for her to relax and prepare for the baby's arrival. The first photo shows the quilt that she started hand piecing when she was just weeks into the pregnancy. She machine quilted it and completed the last few rows about a week before baby H arrived. Talk about timing. Because she found the hand piecing very relaxing, when the quilt had been pieced, she spent evenings hand stitching the star fish bunting now hanging on the wall behind the crib. Baby H has now laid claim to this bright and sunny room. She loves "chattering" to the calico prints in the quilt. This little