V&A and Penshurst Place

One of my favorite things to do in London is visit the V&A. I have been many times, and never get tired of it. Unfortunately, I was not able to visit for the quilt exhibition, but I did buy the book from Amazon and have enjoyed looking through it.

This time, I took my daughter, who was patient enough to help me look through the textile samples. I was specifically looking for anything that looked like boutis, or could be related to boutis - and I was not disappointed ! Initially searching through the whitework samples, I didn't find anything, but once I moved to quilting I saw a sample piece that I thought was exactly right and the right time period. It was a pillow cover described as "Cotton quilted with linen, backstitch. English first half of 18th century". It had the typical flowers and vines, plus an unusual star motif. I was thrilled, how did that stitcher find the pattern, know about the cording, and so on ? Please contact me if you can shed some light on this type of stitching in England.

Being English, and loving gardens, I can usually find time to visit a country house with a nice garden, and this visit was no exception. We visited Penshurst Place in Kent, a lovely old home with a beautiful garden. I have been before a number of years ago, but still enjoyed the beautiful house with its antiques and comfortable sense of history

I have almost finished my large boutis piece, more on that at the beginning of next week .....

English Gardens

Last week I had the pleasure to spend a few days in London with my family. Contrary to popular belief LOL England is not always rainy, and we had a dry and sunny week. I love English gardens, and it is always a great pleasure to me to see hanging baskets, mixed borders, window boxes etc. as well as the baskets hanging from lampposts in just about every village, as well as London suburbs.
We also spent a day in Deal, a small seaside town about an hour's drive from my parents' house, and I couldn't resist photographing the wonderful baskets hanging outside a pub and guesthouse. We even walked (well, staggered) on the pebbly beach, and put a toe in the water - not warm enough for us spoiled Floridians ! Mum likes whelks, so we took some home for her, and I felt that I had spent a summer day back in my childhood - windy, pebbly beaches, ice cream and a walk on the pier.

Gift from Angelika

Angelika knows that I love old needlework tools, and has sent me this wonderful marking wheel she found recently for my birthday. She is a person who makes beautiful pouches and cases for things, and so the wheel came with its own beautiful case. Thank you so much, it is a great birthday gift which I really appreciate. Visit Angelika at http://www.onlyangelika.blogspot.com/ especially if you like knitting, Angelika knits beautifully. As a matter of fact, I think she is good at everything she does :-)

Magnificent Mary

I have spent just over a week in London, starting on my birthday. So I did not see the magnificent gift Lou made for me until this morning - I got back last night and was too tired to open mail - even the "interesting" looking stuff !

I did know that this was in progress, as Lou had asked me to choose the color. I have not seen a Mary "live" and so was not prepared for the beauty of the piece. Although I have been following Needleprint's blog, and have seen many photos, it must be said that the "real thing" is many times more beautiful. Lou has added her own personal touches, my initials and those of my family, and has made it a treasure which I will always cherish. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :-)

Accomplishments of Friends - Catherine's Innocent Love

Catherine is a member of our small boutis group here. She has made several very attractive original ornaments in boutis and recently submitted one of them to Piecework magazine. And .... drum roll please !!!! ..... Catherine's boutis ornament won an Honorable Mention and is featured in the newest edition of the magazine. Catherine tells me she was able to get a copy of the new mag today, so we can show her contribution. This is what she says about the design:

"The heart and daisy in the boutis stuffed heart ornament "Innocent Love" was designed in Electric Quilt 6. The daisy has 13 petals on purpose so the game "He loves me, he loves me not" ends with "He loves me". In the boutis tradition this ornament has symbolism. The color white means innocence, the daisy means innocent love, and the heart symbolizes love, not to mention the game "He loves me". The daisy is backstitched to give the motif a continuous outline. It is made entirely by hand".

I love the fact that Catherine incorporated symbolism, so important to boutis pieces, and piqure de marseille in her stitching. Congratulations and may you continue to make many more award-winning boutis !

The Accomplishments of Friends ......and a surprise

The lovely surprise this week was an envelope from Hiromi in Japan containing the newest Patchwork Tsushin. This is a very special edition for the boutis, and not only is there a beautiful and colorful report about the Maison du Boutis in Calvission and Francine Nicolle, but also lovely photos of Mme Gaussen and her work. These two ladies were pioneers in the renaissance of the boutis, and we have a lot to be thankful to them for.

Hiromi and I both learned the boutis from Lou (please visit her blog boutis et cie link on the right). She is a patient and diligent teacher, and you can see that Hiromi has gone on to make her teacher proud !

The center photo shows you the beautiful original boutis cushions that Hiromi made which are included in the magazine. Her work is exquisite, always elegant and delicate, and I am so proud to see her work published. I have asked her a few times if she will have her patterns published. The picture on the right of the cushions is not very clear (sorry poor photography skills here !) but shows a larger and very beautiful boutis. Please visit Hiromi's blog (see bar on the right) for more of her work.

The last photo is of the cover of the magazine, in case you can find a copy for yourself...... there are some interesting patterns for small boutis in it, as well as detailed step by step instructions.

And on the 6th July, I will be able to post about Catherine's accomplishment ..... Catherine is a member of our boutis group and has had a lot of success recently with her boutis designs.

Happy 4th to all here in USA

Exhibition in Langlade, Gard

I have received an invitation about an exhibition in Langlade, the heritage day at the local windmill. I wish I were visiting next week when this is to be held ! For textile lovers, there is a collection of traditional shawls in cashmere, there is a market of local products and of course meals and music. If you will be nearby, go if you can ! Langlade, 19 and 20 June 2010.

Provencal Scraps

I had a small bag of scraps of provencal fabrics bought at a quilt show, none of the pieces were very big and I wanted to make the best use of them. I pieced a top hardly cutting the fabrics at all, just rearranged them to make the most of them. I used the top a few times to transport my boutis, and yesterday I decided to finish it. Simple quilting, because this quilt is only going to be used to roll up and protect the boutis !!!!

Boutis Finishing CLass

Yesterday we had a finishing class in West Pasco, with 10 delightful ladies participating. While I did take my camera, I forgot to take any photos.
As I was setting up the handouts for the class, I realized how very many options we have for finishing a boutis, much more than I had originally thought. I enjoyed the class a lot and hope the ladies who participated will continue on with the boutis and love it as I do. We had one lady who had made another version of the beginner class project stuffed with colored yarn, which gives a soft shadow effect on the finished piece. It was very pretty and she had done such a good job !

Pour nos amies en France, je vous souhaite une bonne fete des meres - j'espere que toutes les familles sont ensemble et vous passez une bonne journee.

Happy Mothers' Day Bonne Fete des Meres Beste Wuensche zum Muttertag

Happy Mothers' Day to everyone ! Not much blooming outside just now, but these flowers are for all of you. We have all experienced a lot of joy with our children, and some heartache too. I hope yours have all remembered you today, and I wish you a wonderful day with your families.

Procrastinating Quilters Retreat

Every year our quilt guild spends a weekend down at Dayspring in Ellenton for two days of fun, stitching, eating ......you get the idea. This weekend we were wondering just how long we have been doing this, and I think it is at least 8 years. I set up the first one when I was guild president, and I am pleased to say that the tradition has continued

We are spoiled, we stay in little cabins, and have three meals a day cooked for us. No cleanup necessary ! We have a large meeting room to set up our sewing, and we can sew to our hearts' content.

Here are a few pictures of the projects that were finished, and some of the ladies busy at work, so you can get an idea. I am already looking forward to next year !

Oh, the red quilt center is what I was working on - this is just the center, I have made many more blocks but did not have time to put them together yet.

Hearts from Pierrefeu

With great delight I received the hearts from Pierrefeu. Thanks to Lou, who collected the hearts for us and sent them over. Some of them have wonderful Provencal lavender inside, they smell heavenly.

I really enjoyed doing this, so if Henriette plans on it again for next year, we will certainly participate. There is nothing happier than the sharing of a hobby, as I am sure all you quilters and boutisseuses will agree LOL

Un grand merci a toutes les dames qui ont fait un travail superbe. Nous allons conserver precieusement les coeurs que vous avez fait pour nous.

Mystery Quilt Day

The quilt guild I belong to has a mystery quilt day each year, one Saturday in the spring. I have not always been able to go, but have always enjoyed the ones I attended. This last Saturday was the mystery day this year, and here are some of the photos of the finished tops (some of them are even quilted too !) The mystery is planned by a group of ladies in the guild, and this year's theme was "waste not, want not" - the idea was to use up fabric you already had in your stash. I used lots of different blues, and will show you mine when it is finished (I hope you are prepared to wait LOL !)

Anyway, I am sure you will agree that they came up with a great idea, and it was a fun time.