Applique Projects and Fabric Quality

Energized by spending time with stitching friends yesterday, I went home ready to start on a new applique quilt I saw in the July/August Quiltmania - a new project by Minick and Simpson called Rambling Rose.  I loved the colors and thought this could be a good challenge to make using only fabrics from stash.  This is the first block - I am not entirely happy with all the fabrics, but as I said, it is a challenge to use what I already have (and due to some unforeseen work in my house, I can't get at everything right now !)

 So here it is pinned and ready to go - the blocks are large and the applique pieces simple, so it's a perfect relaxing project for the evening.

Up next are the three blocks I have finished of the Flower Garden quilt.  The next two are pinned - the second one is not entirely cut out yet, so the flower looks bulky, but you get the idea.

Playing with our fabrics old and new yesterday brought up the topic of recent changes in fabric quality.  Since we had boxes of our stash fabrics in front of us, together with new pieces just purchased, we could really see how the quality has changed recently.  Our older fabrics are smooth, sturdy and do not distort;  our new fabrics are thinner and stretchier.  Bearing in mind that fabric has also increased in price, we don't like to see that the fabric is poorer quality as well.  I hope that this subject has been brought up to the manufacturers, because I have heard other stitchers complain of the same problem.  We are starting to wonder how our projects will hold up over time.  I have always only purchased "quilt shop quality" fabrics, believing that this will result in a better quilt for the time I am investing.  For now, I am shopping in my stash, until I see an improvement !

Birthday Petassoun

I have an early birthday present !  A beautiful broderie de marseille petassoun has come to live at my house.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea.
 A petassoun is  a small lap quilt used to protect a mother's clothes from any newborn "accidents".  The everyday ones were probably used up, and I have seen quilted examples that were very worn.  These very beautiful ones were reserved for important occasions such as baptisms. 

This one is quite fine.  Most are finished with a tape on the reverse side of the scallops.  Sometimes a straight edge is finished with a knife edge hem.  There are regional variations, and the Marseille pieces are stuffed very well, probably because there was easier access to cotton goods, which would have been harder in small villages further away.
Several different sized pieces were made for important family occasions, always happy affairs like weddings and baptisms.  Each event was represented by certain symbols with different significance.
In this way, the women stitching were able to transmit the story of their family and their personal history.
I adore this work, I love making these pieces, buying them sometimes when I am really lucky,  reading and learning  about them and showing others.  I think I'm hooked !

Playing with wool

Yesterday Janet (no blog yet but coming soon !) and I spent some time playing with our new wool block of the week from here
I don't like working with fusible web, it is a personal preference (I know many people love it !), so I was happy to find some new tips in this book:

These ladies suggest washable glue sticks and staples !   Well, it's worth a try I thought, so I got out my little stapler and glue stick, and I have to say - love it !!  The stapler does not leave a mark in the wool, the glue does not stick hard but seems to hold things in place.  Here are the first two blocks:

To be fair to the designer, I changed the flower on the second block drastically, hers was much more complicated.  Another thing about this summer project, is that there is a freebie each week; this summer these are small blocks of wool applique on cotton, here are the first four (not stitched yet, and the last two are glued/stapled, on the others I used fusible web)

I am going to match my thread to the appliques, mostly using DMC and some nice silk floss I have on hand.  I like a lighter look on the embroidery. 
Hope everyone gets some stitching time today !

Tulips

A version of this quilt was patterned in Quiltmania some time ago, a reproduction quilt made by Lucy of an old quilt she had seen.  I adapted it a little, and made it from stash fabrics, except of course for the School Bus Orange (yes, it is really called that !) Kona cotton used for the sashings.  It is really not my color, but I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt, I feel happy when I look at it, and maybe if I call the color cheddar ......  I could learn to love it !  Marlene did a nice job on the quilting, and it  has turned into one of my favorites.

A Start, a Finish, and a Gift !

I picked up my Houses from the quilter this week, and was SO pleased with the design !  It really enhances the quilt.  I have bound it now and so here are some photos - unfortunately it is rainy here today so the light isn't very good:

The quilt pattern is in Edyta Sitar's book, the figs are an addition of my own.

If  I finish something, I can start something else, right ?  Last Sunday I traced the lovely boutis pattern from France Boutis 1st Salon which I attended in May.  It is on the linen gifted by Isabelle, and I ordered linen thread this week.  I will have to redo the basting, I put plain cotton on the back and I don't like it, it is too heavy and not white enough.  A good Swiss batiste is going to be taking its place:

And last but not least ..... my husband was recently in Germany, and much to my surprise, brought home these three absolutely lovely thimbles for me.  They are very old silver, I haven't even cleaned them yet, and the best part of all - all three fit me to sew with !  I love old silver thimbles to work with, they seem soft and comfortable to me, and as Sharon says ... they already know how to sew !

Souvenirs from Caissargues

 I did very little shopping at the expo in France, and I am sure I could have bought many more things !  I did purchase a piece of Den Haan Dutch chintz, a 2 yard piece which I thought would make a pretty, small courtepointe with a plain color on the reverse.  The pattern is from the "Island Marken" design.
Isabelle made me a gift of the fabulous white linen batiste shown, it is so beautiful.  I am planning to use it for the vanne below as my personal souvenir of a memorable weekend spent with the ladies and Hubert.  Hubert also had the idea for the design of  the needles from Bohin, they are specially for stuffing the boutis, are longer and fine, and have a blunt tip.

 France Boutis offered this wonderful pattern for a small "vanne" as the pattern for the expo in full size.  Recently it had appeared in the Fil Blanc but not full size.  Again, I think this would make a wonderful courtepointe if it was enlarged a little.  This is the pattern I will use the fine linen batiste for.

And finally, I picked up Janet's and my pochettes that Lou had patiently looked after since the exchange in March at Pierrefeu.  Aren't the scissors wonderful ?  They are small and elegant, hand made in  Nogent, and have long, thin, sharp tips, perfect for applique.   The scissor and knife maker from Nogent was a vendor at the expo, and he had truly wonderful scissors, some (very expensive) ones real works of art, a once-in-a-lifetime purchase.   These are a gift from Lou, who  spoiled me the whole weekend.  Thank you so much, I will always remember it.

Decorating Progress

 Nicole has made me this wonderful cross stitch monogram which she framed in a white, antiqued frame which goes beautifully in our small cottage.  She does such perfect work, and is very particular about how she does things, and this picture proved quite a challenge because of its size - she explains about it here.  I placed it in a small alcove in our living room wall, and gave it an antique child's head sculpture for company (it is a family piece inscribed Christmas 1908 in German).  I think they look good together.

In these two pictures you can see we are making some progress in making our rooms more livable.  I am not the best decorator and wanted to keep everything light and in natural colors.  I will be making a few bright pillows I think for contrast, and of course a boutis or two will have to find their way here as well.

 For the second bedroom we opted for a rattan sleeper sofa, this room gives onto a roof terrace which is just so pretty with the forest right behind.  We thought we would like to sit up here from time to time.

And as always, I love the view from my bedroom window at the front of the house.  I like to hear the Church bells chime (which they do every 15 minutes, and on the hour, 24 hours a day !)

Santon Boutisseuse

There was a wonderful surprise waiting for me at Nicole's home !  Some time ago, at the show in Pierrefeu du Var, I had admired the santons boutisseuses which had been commissioned especially for the show.  Hiromi had also admired them and we corresponded about it.  Little did we know, that Nicole had something planned for us !
This is what Hiromi writes on her blog:
Last March, after the pouch exchange project at the show of Pierrefeu du Var, Nicole was kind enough to collect my “new pouch” and sent it to me. Before then, she emailed me “I have already sent your new pouch to Tokyo”, so that I was waiting for it. She sent two pouches for us, my friend and myself. You imagine you will receive a small packet like an international package, don’t you? I definitely imagined as well.
Monday morning, 2 weeks after the exchange, I received “a large box” from Nicole. A large box for small two pouches? How large pouches are there? I opened the box and found pouches and another box inside. I opened it and... “she” was there!
After the show at Pierrefeu du Var, Henriette and some participants uploaded many beautiful pictures on their blogs. Heather who is living in Florida and I gazed at them and we were chatting by email about them, especially about the pictures of “les santons boutisseuses”, the traditional costumed dolls making boutis. We loved them very much. Of course, Nicole didn’t know our chat about “les santons”. So, I didn’t believe “she” was here!
I emailed Nicole. “Astonished! Thanks a million!!!!!!." She said “I bought 2 “santons boutisseuses” for you and Heather. I sent one of them to you. As for another, Heather will come here in May, so I will hand it to her. I keep it secret from her.”
I agreed to her plan and decided I would upload the pictures of my “santon boutisseuse” on my blog in May. This morning, I got email from Heather who had come home from Europe. She had finally met her “santon boutisseuse” at Nicole's apartment!
This is my lovely “santon boutisseuse”. I really thank Nicole and was touched by her deep and warm friendship for us.
Thank you again, Nicole.
Heather, I am waiting for uploading the pictures of your santon on your blog!!
                                                                         *******
Here are some pictures of the lovely santon Nicole chose for me (I think it is funny that both Hiromi and I chose to place our santons next to the lamp in boutis we made !)

The ladies of Lei Roucas dou barri made the individual boutis by hand for the santons, they are beautifully done.
Santons are the popular figures made to decorate a Christmas scene in Provence; some a very small clay figures, and others are larger and clothed.  There are several well-known santon makers.  This maker was chosen because of the lovely facial features of the santons.
This photos is courtesy of Henriette's blog - I think I have spotted both Hiromi's and my santon together - thank you

Links to more photos of Boutis Salon

My photos are very poor compared to many of the others taken during the expo.  Here are some links of Boutis friends and designers who took wonderful pictures that will give you a much better idea of what everything was like.  I had very limited time to walk around since I was in a class all day, and only there briefly Friday evening, so take a look at these gorgeous photo galleries:

Pierrefeu du var Henriette's blog

Marie Silvestre - who I was able to meet after admiring her blog and beautiful work - she has photos from each day separately on her blog

France Boutis of course - there are many pictures to see here

Dominique  Fave - her site is gorgeous, look at all her work here

Enjoy !

1st Salon National du Boutis at Caissargues, 11-13 May

I had a fabulous time at the first national salon in Caissargues last week.  I am just posting now since I returned to the US on Sunday night.  The ladies of France Boutis who organized this salon did a wonderful job, and I hear that there will be a second one in two years - a long time to wait !
The salon opened on Friday afternoon, following an official opening in the morning.  I will be listing a few other blogs with better pictures than mine, so you can go there and look at everything in more detail. 
The salon was organized with several very well-known boutis teachers, plus representative work of various clubs, and some specialized vendors.  I was fortunate enough to take a full day class from M. Hubert Valeri, who has a very different, precise and contemporary approach to boutis.  I learned two new stitches from him that are gorgeous and I will definitely be using in my work.  Other teachers present were Kumiko Nakayama, Dominique Fave (a very charming lady who does boutis on silk, making very original jewelry and contemporary items), as well as Francine Born.  Many of the individual stands had boutis used in interesting ways for clothing items, I particularly loved a silk jacket I saw.
There were antique boutis from various collections on show, always my very favorite thing to look at.  Mme Alphand had brought many interesting pieces to study, and she is fascinating to listen to.

Jupon displayed in a panettiere

Mme Alphand explaining details and techniques

Magnificent display of new and old boutis

Lots of shopping going on here !

I did not take many photos, since I was in class all day and honestly, I was so dazzled by so much boutis in one place that I wasn't thinking clearly about pictures !