Seams French

Since the beginning of the month, I have been quite happily stitching on my second "scrap the stash" quilt for the year which I have called "Winging It".  After finishing the quilt below in 2012, .... "Flight of Fancy" finished in January of 2012. .... I had a lot of pre-appliqued quarter circles, pre-cut squares and as always, lots of strips left over. A box full of strips left over from a number of baby quilts. There are 3 different sizes of machine appliqued quarter circles. And, a variety of pre-cut squares. Some of these squares I have been re-cutting into smaller pieces. These prepared pieces lent themselves quite easily to evolving into butterflies, so they became the first block for " Winging It ". Adding the centre strip for the body makes these butterflies a little different from the ones in the original quilt (see top photo). Once I had used up the majority of the sizes and shapes of appliqued qu...

Blocks 35-61: The Scrappler Time-out! Someone or something needs to go for a nap. "The Scrappler", as I have named this unruly, tenacious compilation of strips, stripes and wonky, has had me out of my comfort zone long enough for the time being. By February 29th, I had 60 blocks made from this first set of scraps . Since my goal is 366 for the year, (readjusted when I realized it's a leap year), I'm on schedule. Because I wanted to eliminate as much trimming and waste as possible, I let the scraps dictate the form the blocks would take. Below is the last set of blocks I made from this particular conglomeration of scraps. By this time, there had been a lot of trial and error with colour placement and piecing ideas and I'm happier with these results then with the earlier blocks. Made only from strips, this is the last set of blocks I made from this particular bunch of scraps. The trial and error method started with these first two sets of blocks (next...

Prepping, Marking and Basting Boutis is traditionally worked on a good quality white cotton batiste. A good quality batiste is lightweight, finely woven, and semi sheer. These characteristics make it perfect for boutis.   It has a silky, buttery texture that the needle loves to glide through and makes it easier to obtain tiny stitches. Because of the translucence of the fabric, the black marker lines of the pattern are visible without the use of a light box. I purchased this particular piece at the Musée La Maison du Boutis in Calvisson, in the south of France, a number of years ago and had been saving it for a special project.  The design is quite visible underneath the batiste without the use of a light box. Two equal size pieces of the batiste are cut to accommodate the size of the design allowing a generous border for easy hooping. For the bottom piece, I used a different batiste. It's still just as closely woven, but not quite as fine. Strength is importan...

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...

Blocks 9 - 34 A month after I started my "Scrap Buster" quilt, I am still feeling seriously out of my element and comfort zone, but I am enjoying the process with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. To date, there are 34 completed blocks. At the outset of this project, I set 3 goals for myself. 1. Use up scraps and reduce the stash. 2. Allow myself freedom to play and experiment with improv quilting. 3. Make a block a day within a 30 minute time limit. How am I doing re: scrap busting? 1. Only scraps and remnants have been used to this point. In order not to create even more waste, I have been trying to use the pre-cut shapes and pieces as they are, with as little trimming as possible. When a piece needs to be re-cut, I try to cut it in such a way that the off-cut can still be used somewhere else. Many of the scraps are 2 1/2" strip lengths left over from previous projects. Sometimes I can use the whole width to re-cut another shape. But because I am using 1...

Finished and Unfinished Bits of Boutis and Embroidery Because of other plans and obligations, I realized in early November that there would be limited, if any, time to quilt before Christmas. That certainly proved to be the case. I had set out a few hand stitching goals for myself during this time, some of which were met, others not, plus a new, unplanned project was added. The first projects that were completed were the two star embroideries for my grand daughter. When I made her quilt last year, "Catch a Falling Star" , I made the label on the back into a pocket into which I will add a little star with a wish for her every year. For this year's star I borrowed a small piece of my precious yellow boutis batiste cotton (precious because I am having difficulty sourcing it) and proceeded with some easy embroidery stitches. Beads were added to give it a touch of sparkle. Staying with the star theme, the little tree ornament below was embroidered onto antique white ...

While on a family vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii just before Christmas, my daughter and I managed to squeeze in a class teaching the basics of traditional Hawaiian quilting. At the end of the class, we both had a 22" x 22" cushion size Hawaiian Applique quilt ready to stitch. The coral coloured "Ulu" pattern below is my daughter's project.  Traditionally, the ulu is the first quilt made for the home to ensure that there will always be food on the table. The "Ulu" (Breadfruit) pattern, designed by John Serrao. It's the designs of these applique quilts that make Hawaiian quilts unique. Each pattern is individual to the maker of the quilt and symbolizes who they are. Although many of the patterns use a similar motif or symbol, (for example the "Ulu" pattern), when adapted by the quilter, it becomes personal to that quilter and unlike any other version. Ideally, each quilter should create her own design, but beginner's are gi...