Seams French

Sanglier, Palm Trees and Sunshine 9 Piggies Dancing! I used free motion embroidery for the sangliers with "Magnifico", a 40 wt. polyester thread from Superior Threads. Sangliers are wild boars that still run freely in large numbers throughout the French countryside. Symbolizing strength and invincibility, it's image has been immortalized in various art forms through the ages. Sanglier en bronze A number of years ago, I was asked to quilt a tablecloth where the sanglier motif was the focal point. The owner of this tablecloth has now requested placemats designed around the same theme. This time, the design should include sangliers and palm trees on warm terracotta coloured fabric. To this, I added a vineyard (what's more French than a vineyard?) where the sanglier might find himself very comfortable. Below, my new design is tucked into the fabrics that I am using for these placemats. The main fabric (on the bottom) is one of Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry...

Update: Scrap the Stash 2016 "Redwork Forest" assembled quilt top. ("Paper and Plums" pattern by Alexandra Ledgerwood.) Early in 2016, I had set out a few goals for myself, one being the intent of sewing a block a day using only scraps. Well, I soon discovered that a block a day was counter productive; the gathering of materials and set up takes too much time on a daily basis for only one block. The problem was resolved by making one day a week a day to focus on the scraps. This has worked out fairly well, and on December 1st the count was 345 completed blocks, in 4 different colour ways. Scrap 1: "Gone Scrappy" with warm ochres and olive greens, scraps left over from the warm, sunny "Languedoc" days. Scrap 2: "Winging It" made with bright and colourful baby quilt scraps. Scrap 3: "Flower Garden" was a project that I had started in Winnipeg in 2004 prior to our move to the west coast and Montpellier. The ...

Not really being able to focus on anything other than the inside of my eyelids during most of December, none of my projects got any attention. Having to miss my favourite little girls 2nd birthday was likely more painful than anything this flu bug could do to me. I consoled myself with some colourful yarns and knitting needles and somehow managed to get a little scarf together. Just before the big nasty virus launched it's attack in early December, I did get a few gifts in just under the wire. After hundreds of feathers were cut, stitched and turned over many months, (OK, maybe not hundreds, but lots and lots), there were finally enough for this little Owl doll. Ollie the Owl is a creation of Angela Yosten, from her book "Sew Modern Baby" published by Stash Books of C & T Publishers. With big, round googly eyes and colours galore, it has to fun! Scads of scraps from previous baby quilts were used up for the feathers. Fusible interfacing and machin...

It seems I blinked a couple of times and 2016 was gone. How did that happen? Since my last post, there has been very little activity on the Seams French assembly line. Several nasty versions of flu bugs have kept me pretty much out of commission for most of December and the early part of January. Preset goals and deadlines became meaningless when the only thing that mattered was having enough cough meds and tissues in the house. Vulnerability should never be underestimated. With some wind back in my sails, I decided to start up 2017 by pulling out my whole cloth quilt design that had been shelved since last April. For a quilt like this, I like to preplan and draw in fairly detailed FMQ lines for focal motifs. I love this part of the process and can get completely lost in it. Completed FMQ butterfly design. When designing, I rely on a lot of different resources. Our collection of photos is fairly large and is my first source for ideas and inspiration. Books, art, the ...

My 4th and last scrap quilt of the year uses up most of the reds and neutrals in the scrap stash, much of which had already been precut into strips. Early in the year, soon after I started this adventure of improv quilting with scraps and stash reduction, I realized how seriously out of my comfort zone the exercise was taking me. To the rescue came several books. Among them is Alexandra Ledgerwood's book, "Improvising Tradition" which focuses on using precut strips.  By clarifying her process of "pairing improvised elements and techniques with traditional designs and methods", she has calmed some of the fear and chaos that improv quilting brings to my mind. Because so much of my scrap stash is precut strips, I found the book particularly appealing. Her pattern "Paper and Plums" with the 12 1/2 inch equilateral triangles was perfect for all of the red and neutral strips in the stash. The strips are sewn into 12 1/2 inch widths and then c...

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...

A Pocketful of Starlight When the lovely Lady H (grand daughter extraordinaire) made her debut into the world on the winter solstice of 2014,  the quilt to mark her arrival was filled with a galaxy of stars to wish upon.   To make sure she never runs out of stars upon which to wish, on each winter solstice another star will be added to the collection. The label on the back of the quilt was made into a little pocket; a place she can safely keep these wishes and promises. Winter Solstice Star 2014 Her arrival was marked by a quote from William Shakespeare. Year 1 (below) was celebrated with beading and hand embroidery. Winter Solstice 2015. Year 2 is coming up very quickly, and boutis will mark this years celebration. Some beading and embroidery will very likely will likely find it's way into the design as well. Made with a fine Swiss batiste it will have a white top and ochre back with gold embellishments. Below is a variation of the same star set ...