Seams French

I recently had the opportunity to become a member of the association of "France Boutis". "France Boutis" is an organization, similar to the quilt guilds in North America, that promotes the tradition and heritage of boutis. In May they held their first "Salon National du Boutis" exposition in Caissargues. They also meet regularly to work together and to teach and support each other. Last week, I attended one of these meetings, and had the pleasure of meeting 8 other women, all committed to mastering this traditional craft. The women all came ready to work on their latest piece. Here (left to right): Dominique, a patchwork quilter now also learning the art of boutis; Marianne, generous in sharing her expertise with others; Dominique, (seated) a lace artisan, working on a new design for her boutis; and Danielle, a "boutisseuse" whose  positive energy and cheerful smile  brightened the afternoon.   Danielle with Marie-France, who was coordin...

. This seems to be the year for vibrant greens. The plants on the terrace are doing very well. The local student housing is brilliant with colour. Restaurants seem to be growing their own napkins now. As well as placemats. And who wouldn't want to wear these shorts? Even the plants are known to come up green this year!  Can a green quilt be on the horizon?

Just a 20 minute drive from Montpellier is the sea-resort town of Palavas-Les-Flots, a great place to enjoy a steaming bowl of "Moules-Frites" (mussels and fries) on the beach, when a sudden urge hits. For a light dessert, the "Cafe Gourmand" offers a sampling of desserts available that day.

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...

Seams French has diversified and added some baby friendly items to its line of products. These hooded cotton terry "bunny" towels will keep baby snug and warm when wrapped in it after a bath. Matching puppet wash mitts are also available for mum and baby. Inspired by the look of French boutis, this white cotton bib with butterfly motifs, allows baby to dress for dinner. For further information contact info@seamsfrench.com.

Using fabric designed by Leah Janzen; Print and Pattern, I recently made a few sample designs of throw pillows. In this first cushion, I combined Leah's blue patterned fabric with a matching solid blue cotton that was pleated and accented with white semi circles. This second pillow shows her fabric next to a panel of free-motion quilting on a white cotton. To see more of her patterns and designs, see her website at: www.leahjanzen.com , and for her latest patterns, see her blog at leahjanzen.blogspot.ca Also new to the fabric stash, is the start of a collection of silks. Here silk is used only as an accent in the piping around a quilted white cotton pillow. A small assortment of blue dupioni silks that will co-ordinate with Leah's patterned blue fabric.

I'm fairly certain that it was Libby Lehman who first introduced me to the concept of "free-motion" quilting, sometime in the late 90's, most likely on "Simply Quilts". Sewing mostly garments at the time, where it was absolutely necessary for measurements and seams to be accurate, this "free" concept of sewing was somewhat intimidating. Even so, the idea intrigued me enough at the time to buy Libby's book entitled "Threadplay", published in 1997. Since then, I have been lured away from garment sewing and have been completely seduced by the lure of "quilting". In my current work, I use both very traditional patterns and techniques (either hand or machine quilting), as well as a lot of free-motion machine work. Although many books have been published since that first introduction, I still refer to Libby's book often, and in my mind, she is the "queen of free-motion". Therefore, when I saw that Libby was teachin...