Petassouns, old and new

Recently I was able to acquire two old petassons/petassouns, infant lap pieces, pieces piquees, or whatever name is most familiar to you.  They arrived today, and I am looking at them and thinking over what they can tell me.   Although these are not the work of professionals making very grand pieces in an atelier, they are the kind of work I like best - those made at home for family, showing different levels of needlework skill.
 One is very damaged, the fabric has completely worn through in the center, rather like another one I bought before. However, the stitching is very fine and it is obviously the work of an experienced needlewoman.  It has other condition problems, there are rust marks, a pen mark on the back which I hope will wash out, and holes in the edging - one corner of which has been patched with another piece of old embroidered edge.  It is very old, it has survived the ups and downs of more than a century, and has undoubtedly passed through many pairs of hands.

On the left corner you can see the repair with another piece of embroidery.

Here you can clearly see the many worn areas.  The fabric has simply worn away with wear, but the piece itself is firm, well stitched and stuffed.

I will be reproducing this one, I think I will not change anything about it, its design is simple and elegant.  Size: 17.75 x 20 inches, without the trim.

The second piece is different.  It is stitched well, but the channels are wider, the design is not as balanced and I think it is a later piece.  It too has a border of trimmed batiste, and I cannot decide whether or not it was added later.  It is the same color, so perhaps it was made this way, certainly there is no tape or other finished method before the lace.  The stuffing is firm, the stitching is fine, and I will also reproduce this one, although I may modify the design a little.

Size 19 x 20 inches, without the trim.

In the last photo you can see the difference in quality of work, the piece on the right is much finer.

And last but not least, I have made a little progress on my small petasson from Boutis Traditionnel.  The stitching is complete, and I have started the stuffing.  I used the Frixion pen to mark, and when I have finished stitching, I run the hairdryer over it to remove the marks.  I find I am happier working on the stuffing with the marks gone, I can see the stitches better.  Now I want it to be finished so I can wash it !

Recemment,j'ai trouve deux vieux petassons qui viennent d'arriver chez moi.  Tous les deux sont abimes, mais pour moi dans ce cas ca sont des pieces pour apprendre et reproduire, et franchement j'aime les pieces faites a la maison par les familles.    Le premier est tres fin, le travail super bien fait mais le tissu du centre  est dechire au fil du temps.  Le deuxieme est peut-etre plus recent que l'autre, le piquage tres bien fait mais le bourrage plus epais, et je ne suis pas sure si la broderie autour etait fait au meme temps que le boutis, malgre le fait qu'il n'y a rien d'autre pour la finition, pas de tresse, etc.  Si quelqu'un a un autre avis ou bien quelques informations, n'hesitez pas a m'ecrire, je suis toujours tres heureuse d'apprendre, merci.

Broderie de Marseille Exhibit in Lincoln, NE

I have just got back from the Symposium, two days of bliss learning more about whitework quilts.  I have been waiting to visit the exhibition for a long time, as I really wanted to see the boutis in Kathryn Berenson's collection.  I had not appreciated how much more would be presented at the Symposium, and thoroughly enjoyed the presentations. 
I was a little disappointed that the rest of the museum's collection are not on permanent display;  they are catalogued online and you can look at them that way.  I hope that sometime in the future there will be more space for more quilts to be displayed.

I mostly took photos of elements of the boutis which interested me the most, so here is a small sample of them.

Boutis Treasure

I was very lucky on my travels to come across a very old, very damaged little petasson. It was love at first sight of course and I wanted to purchase it. The stallholder, however, said that it was not for sale, she keeps it only to explain to tourists what a real boutis is. So we continued to talk for a while about all things boutis, it was a pleasant conversation. Imagine my surprise when she said that after all, she would be willing to sell it to me since I have some knowledge of the boutis and it would be in safe hands. According to the seller, this petasson is from the Nimes area. I have not dared to wash it yet, but I have traced the pattern and I am going to stitch it again myself, so that the original can be preserved but we can enjoy the pattern and work it represents. I did have to re-interpret the center somewhat, it is very damaged and there were a couple of areas where I could not see exactly what the design was. I hope I have stayed true to the spirit though.