A "Summery" of Quilting

Sew with the Flow

Having started this post sometime in June, it was to be a bit of an update of what was on my stitching list for the summer. As often happens, unpredictable events take us from our routine schedule and force a re-prioritization of plans. Therefore the post never got published, and the motto "sew with the flow" became my daily mantra. A number of the projects below have been completed, progress was made on some, while others were not even touched.

First up on the list of priorities was the whole cloth silk quilt that I'm making for my husband and myself. The design is well under way, and as soon as there is a large chunk of time, I will start transferring the pattern onto the silk. It will not be an easy task, but I'm very anxious to get going on it.

Hummingbirds and gardenias are a major design element.

As are shamrocks.

The top of the quilt is a teal dupioni silk (centre of the photo). On the back will be the dark navy/tealish Northcott cotton that is on the left. The turquoise solid cotton on the bottom right was an option for the back that I decided against.

To see how it would hold up, I pre-washed a meter of the silk, which I am using for the trial pieces. Although there was shrinkage, it's not serious at all and I love how soft and manageable the silk has become. I will definitely be pre-washing the whole 9 yards.

The trial piece has been underlined with a very light fusible interfacing. So far, I'm not crazy about the relief I'm getting with it, even though I'm using two layers of wool batting in some places. Will I regret it if I don't use it?

In my on-going attempt to reduce the stash, I hauled out these 8 placemats that had been cut to size back in France, with applique templates ready to go. The bumble bees are machine appliqued and held in place with a light fusible web along with a satin stitch.

They also gave me the opportunity to practice ruler work with my new ruler presser foot and "Kelly Cline's" machine quilting rulers.

Along with the placemats that had been pre-cut were about 6 more meters of the yellow and white striped fabric, left over from a project in France. Tablecloths were an easy project that used up most of the fabric and became the colour inspiration for the table setting for our "Summer Solstice" party.

As there was still a lot of fabric, I made a second tablecloth for our balcony table.

The Lady H has graduated to a pillow, so new bedding was required, including these flannel pillowcases.

And last but not least, there was a little time to get my Scrap IV Flower Garden quilt from last year stitched together into rows. Another session should have the rows together and ready for sandwiching.

The next post will be a bit of an update on Boutis, which is still very much a priority in my stitching life.

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...

AnonymousSeptember 6, 2017 at 4:59 AM
You always do the most interesting projects! Your quilt will be magnificent. LOTS of work and difficult to transfer I am quite sure. Perhaps the interfacing on the quilt sample prevents the relief you are looking for??? That is a guess...I don't have experience with it. LOVE your "bee" placemats...quite creative! And the floral scrap quilt is really beautiful. How big is the scrap quilt? Lovely work as ALWAYS!
MonicaSeptember 11, 2017 at 2:33 PM
You Summer Solstice table looks amazing! I'm sure you all had a great time.

What about a knit fusible for the silk? Is bearding your main concern?

I know some longarmers use a layer of cotton batting under wool batting. Maybe that would work better?

In any case, it all looks great!
Momma Made ThisOctober 14, 2017 at 2:48 PM
I found your blog today while looking for inspiration on whole cloth quilting and I'm in love with your work! I've been reading back in an effort to find out which tools and techniques you use to transfer your designs to fabric. Is there a specific page on your blog for this? Thank you so much!
Seams FrenchJanuary 30, 2018 at 7:54 PM
Sorry, I somehow missed your comment. During the next few weeks, I will be posting progress reports on a whole cloth machine quilted project that I have just finished. I currently don't have specific pages on my blog, but I will try to link all of these posts together. Thanks for your visit.

Seams French

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