Seams French

For the last number of weeks when I have not been in production mode on my Scrap Buster quilt, or hand stitching one of several boutis projects in process , I have been working on some new quilting and boutis designs.  A new rose window design for boutis is almost ready to be transferred to fabric. This time the design is inspired by the rose window in the south transept of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. One of my photos of the south transept rose window of Notre Dame Cathedral. When I had completed the stitching on this little square of boutis and was looking for a way to finish it, the idea to combine it with free motion quilting and create a larger wall hanging (below) came as an afterthought. The boutis is central to this combined machine/boutis wall hanging. I quite liked this idea and decided to try it again, this time making the window completely into a boutis piece. Using our photo of Notre Dame Cathedral as the basis for the design, my Autocad enabl...

Design and Assembly When working with  a smaller project, like the rose window boutis below, there is the ever present question of how to finish it. Regardless of whether I am quilting, embroidering or stitching boutis, I like the piece to serve a purpose; be useful in some way. Averyclaire , quilter and embroiderer extraordinaire, is a Whizzz at creative, beautifully constructed finishes and never seems to run out of ideas. In fact, she runs a little finishing business, where she will finish other people's embroidered work, all with meticulous care and craftsmanship.  But for me, it's always a bit of a quandary. So, how to finish this little 5" x 5" boutis square. Since the inspiration for the initial boutis design was a rose window,  I thought, why not make it into a wall hanging of a larger rose window, with machine quilting framing the boutis. One of the things that I love most about Europe is it's multitude of historical buildings, of which most a...

Having been back in Montpellier for 3 weeks now, spring cleaning is done, the pantry is more or less restocked with all of the local delicacies, and our balcony is slowly "greening up". We have also spent time with friends, savouring the delights of the countryside, both with our eyes and our taste buds. Spring fields are brilliant with poppies that grow wild. A local vineyard that makes a refreshing rose. The nearby fishing village of Grau du Rois. Aside from enjoying some of the delights of the area, my research of the local needlework tradition of boutis continues. I was fortunate to be able to attend the first "Salon National du Boutis", held in Caissargues (near Nimes), and organized by France Boutis. www.franceboutis.canalblog.com France Boutis supports both traditional and contemporary boutis, and the exhibition had the best of both types of work on display. Because of copyright concerns, I have no photos of the show, however, the following links...