Seams French

Celebrating the 1st Advent with Boutis Just in time for the season, I finished these three elegant little boutis ornaments designed by my friend Karen at Averyclaire NeedleArts and available as a kit in her ETSY shop . Using only a running stitch, these ornaments come together quickly and easily following Karen's clearly written instructions. Included in the kit are all materials required to finish the project, including three different colours of yarn. From time to time, a hint of colour may be added to boutis by cording the channels with a coloured yarn instead of the traditional white.  I chose to do the first ornament below, "Noel", using only red yarn for the cording. The snowflake is done in the traditional white on white. The colours of yarn included in the kit are white, red and green. The last ornament has been corded with all three colours. There are a number of ways to finish the edges of a boutis piece. The most common, and the method I use...

A Pocketful of Starlight When the lovely Lady H (grand daughter extraordinaire) made her debut into the world on the winter solstice of 2014,  the quilt to mark her arrival was filled with a galaxy of stars to wish upon.   To make sure she never runs out of stars upon which to wish, on each winter solstice another star will be added to the collection. The label on the back of the quilt was made into a little pocket; a place she can safely keep these wishes and promises. Winter Solstice Star 2014 Her arrival was marked by a quote from William Shakespeare. Year 1 (below) was celebrated with beading and hand embroidery. Winter Solstice 2015. Year 2 is coming up very quickly, and boutis will mark this years celebration. Some beading and embroidery will very likely will likely find it's way into the design as well. Made with a fine Swiss batiste it will have a white top and ochre back with gold embellishments. Below is a variation of the same star set ...