Boutis Florida Suncoast - Heather: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Boutis - Vanne 19th C

Vanne boutis, this style of boutis was frequently made for a marriage and is intended to lay on top of a bed. To my very great pleasure, this one is now living at my house !

Each corner has the same basket depicted

There are wonderful garlands with flowers along each side

Here you can see the oval borders with channels stuffed

The central oval motif with straight channel filling

Recently I acquired a boutis which has been on my wish-list for a long time: a vanne size approx. 143 cm x 161 cm, with my favorite kind of motifs and style. I would date this about mid 19th Century, but it may be a little earlier than that. It is cotton, the cotton on the back is a slightly looser weave, and you can see some remaining "holes" from passing the cotton yarn stuffing. The straight edge is finished with a hem, and it is in excellent condition. I still need to spend more time studying this quilt, but for now, here are some pictures. The overall design is symmetrical, with each corner motif repeated 4 times, oval garlands surrounding oval borders.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Alsace

I haven't been stitching much recently, life has been very busy and sometimes sad. At the end of September, we had our Guild retreat in Ellenton, Florida, and that was a fun weekend. I did do some stitching then of course, but there is nothing yet to show from that. I set up some applique, started a new pieced pattern, and generally enjoyed the company of like-minded ladies.
I am sharing a few more photos of our trip to Birkenhoerdt in September, most of these are from Alsace/Wissembourg, plus a few villages surrounding our own. The time for these flowers has passed now, and the late autumn is bringing colder weather.

Our adorable little house, just can't resist taking pictures. I am hoping to put up shutters once the grouting has been redone. I was thinking that the plaque in the middle would make shutters impossible, but I have seen some that fold back on themselves if there is only space on one side, so I will be looking at those.