Scrap the Stash II: Winging It

Since the beginning of the month, I have been quite happily stitching on my second "scrap the stash" quilt for the year which I have called "Winging It".

After finishing the quilt below in 2012, ....

"Flight of Fancy" finished in January of 2012.

.... I had a lot of pre-appliqued quarter circles, pre-cut squares and as always, lots of strips left over.

A box full of strips left over from a number of baby quilts.

There are 3 different sizes of machine appliqued quarter circles.

And, a variety of pre-cut squares.

Some of these squares I have been re-cutting into smaller pieces.

These prepared pieces lent themselves quite easily to evolving into butterflies, so they became the first block for "Winging It".

Adding the centre strip for the body makes these butterflies a little different from the ones in the original quilt (see top photo).

Once I had used up the majority of the sizes and shapes of appliqued quarter circles required to form the above butterfly, I played with the other pre-cuts from this particular stash of scraps and have come up with a few other shapes of winged creatures. By recutting the larger quarter circles, and the addition of some of the smallest quarter circles as well as the smallest square precuts, ....

.... I managed to squeak out 3 more birds from the same grouping.

I have 32 blocks finished for the month of March, including 2 other styles of "winged creatures". More on that and some layout ideas next time.
Time to focus on boutis and other quilting for a while.

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...

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...

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...

Seams French

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