Salon Nationale du Boutis 2022

Caissargues, France is a satellite community on the outskirts of Nimes in southern France. It is also the home of France Boutis, an association of passionate artisans dedicated to reviving the time honoured needlework tradition of boutis. Boutis is a traditional needlework technique specific to the Provencal region of France. It's origins can be traced to the port city of Marseilles in the 16th century. Here it became a highly popular form of embellishing plain, white cotton fabric and was a much sought-after textile throughout the 18th century. Over later centuries, its popularity declined, but the 21st century has seen a renewed interest in the craft thanks in large part to the active promotion of France Boutis.

As suggested by the title of their recently published book, "Apprendre Boutis et Transmettre", (Learn Boutis and Share), France Boutis has worked tirelessy over the last decade to promote and revive this cherished craft, both in France and beyond.

Since it's first national exposition in 2012, France Boutis has organized a salon every 2 years celebrating this traditional classic, elegant needlework art. At this years exposition, 32 exhibitors were invited to present their work during the 3 day salon, including boutiseusses (stitchers) from Japan, Hungary and myself from Canada.

Every piece on display deserves to be in the spotlight. What is shown below is only a small representation of some of the more traditional pieces that were at the show. Time, patience, precision and a great deal of passion are visible in every piece.

Comments

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 quilting method requires a free-standing simple

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

Search This Blog