Seams French

 December 21st became a real celebration for us when our granddaughter was born on it. Each year on her birthday, the winter solstice, I make her a special star that she can hang on the Christmas tree. Boutis, applique, beading and other bling were used in making these stars. (Every party needs some bling!) Because the project is small, it's a fun way to experiment and play with different techniques and ideas. Here's a small selection of some of the stars that I have made.

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...