A Boutis won in Paducah !

I am SO happy to see that a boutis piece won a prize for miniatures in Paducah !  I'm excited to see this technique getting the attention it deserves !  Made by Jan Hutchison, called Itty Bitty Boutis.
Congratulations to Jan, I know how many hours of work went into this piece.
Here is the link so you can see all the wonderful quilts which won prizes.  It really is an inspiration to see the marvelous quality of work on all of these

http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/paducah/2011/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php

Happy Easter Joyeuses Paques Frohe Ostern

We have a beautiful sunny day today, too hot here in Florida to hide eggs outside, but I am enjoying the weekend.  Easter is my favorite holiday.  I hope you all enjoy your families, good food, plenty of chocolate eggs, and of course a little stitching time.

Home on the Plains

During my wonderful weekend at the Quilt Study Center, I had the opportunity to talk with Kathy Moore.  Kathy didn't tell me that she had coauthored a book - I found that out later when I bought this signed copy.  Those of you who have purchased Kansas City Star books in the past will know how beautifully presented they are, and this book is one of the best.
I have been collecting indigo fabrics for a while, and until now did not come across a quilt I wanted to make with them.  Our guild retreat is coming up at the end of the month, and I had promised myself a new project - last year I took older things to work on, and somehow it felt like doing homework - so this year, new projects only for me !!!

So here is Kathy's book and the fabrics I have chosen from my indigos - this morning I am cutting it so it will be ready for retreat !  I am planning to make twelve blocks, and am using a white Kona cotton for the background.

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.

Trapunto Pattern - Reproduction of Museum Quilt

Recently I corresponded with Donna about an antique quilt she had shown which belongs to a local museum.  At first I thought it might even be a boutis, and Donna was kind enough to go and look again and take more pictures.  The quilt is a lovely white  trapunto, and she had the idea of reproducing the pattern to raise money for the museum.  So of course when the pattern was ready, I bought one.  If you are interested, go visit her blog.  The quilt is large, 88 x 88 inches, and the border is quite lovely.  Donna has included her instructions  for the trapunto.  Of course, this could also be made as a boutis, omitting the batting, drawing in channel lines and stitching and stuffing as for the boutis.  The cost is $40 plus $4.95 for priority mailing in the US. (No affiliation, of course !)

Petasson Progress - Part 2

As all the US knows (and probably most other people too !) today is the Superbowl.  My husband even went to an ice hockey game before the Superbowl ....... so I spent some time stitching.  Here is the beginning of the stuffing, just the center and one leaf so far.  Maybe I'll get some more done later.

Petasson Progress

I am making progress on the reproduction of the antique Nimes petasson I found last year.  I had made some small design changes to the original, but the main elements are all still there.  I decided to make the center of the border flowers in the style known as Rosette de Petite Camargue.  I love this little stitch, it adds a delicacy to the piece.  However, it is HARD to cut into the fabric you have spent so many hours stitching, and I really had to take a deep breath before I did it.  There are 4 total rosettes, one on each side of the piece.  The rest of the design is rosemary sprigs, flowers, grapes, leaf swags, and the traditional petasson border.  If I can stuff a decent amount before the end of the day, I will post another picture (might even happen - what else should I do during the Superbowl !!!)

Largo Cracker Show

This morning I went to the Largo Cracker Quilters show.  They had more than 200 quilts on display, all of a high standard.  It's a great opportunity to meet up with other quilting friends, and just enjoy the quilts.  Here are just a few of them, as always my personal favorites ;-)

I made one of these myself, only I substituted some different elements - instead of the hand, I made a smaller heart, etc.

What a clever idea to applique on top of the cat !

I

Mary Wigham

For my last birthday I received a wonderful gift from Lou.  She knows that I have never done any cross stitch, but that I love the Quaker motifs.  So she made me a Mary Wigham - her second !  And she personalized it with our initials, some small birds, her own name and date.  I adore it, and have now had it framed (my husband chose the setting).  Go to Lou's blog http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com/ to see her wonderful Mary.

Antique Applique and Thimbles

I have been indulging.  Yesterday my husband suggested we visit an antique fair (maybe he didn't realize the danger ???) and we had a pleasant morning browsing.  I had purchased some silver thimbles from a stand I knew previously, and so was really happy to be adding to my collection.  I use these thimbles, I really like the soft feel of the old silver and as Sharon says, they already know how to sew.
Then, on the way out ...... I noticed a folded quilt on a chair.  A lovely old applique in red and green (my favorite), which when unfolded turned into a soft, intact, thin, beautifully quilted gem.  Well, you can guess the rest .... and here it is, spread out in my garden in the morning sun.  It is very clean, I think the binding has been replaced on one side and there are two small spots on the back, but otherwise perfect.  The quilting is tiny, the batting extremely thin with cotton seeds visible, and there are two different greens.  The border vine is still a fairly strong green with some yellow shadowing, the green used for the blocks is very "prussian" blue with yellow clearly visible.
What do you think ?

By the way - for Isabelle our dog, a quilt spread in the garden can mean only one thing LOL
Ich habe mich verwoehnt.  Gestern hat mein GG vorgeschlagen, eine Antikmesse hier in der Gegend zu besuchen (hat er die Gefahr nicht erkannt ???) und wir haben einen angenehmen Vormittag verbracht.  Ich kaufte einige Silberfingerhuete von einem mir bekannten Stand, und war schon sehr zufrieden, meine kleine Sammlung etwas zu vergroessern.  Ich naehe immer mit diesen Fingerhueten, ich mag das weiche Gefuehl des alten Silbers, und wie Sharon immer sagt, sie koennen schon naehen.
Dann auf dem Weg nach draussen, habe ich einen Quilt auf einem Stuhl bemerkt.  Schoen alt und appliziert in rot und gruen (meine Lieblingsquilts), einmal ausgepackt entpuppte er sich als weich, perfekt, duenn und sehr schoen gesteppt.  Ihr koennt ja schon den Rest raten......und hier ist er, ausgebreitet in der Morgensonne.  Die Stiche sind sehr klein, die Fuelle sehr duenn mit sichtbaren Baumwollsamen, und es gibt zwei unterschiedliche Gruentoene.  Die Borduere ist noch sehr gruen mit gelbem Unterton, das Gruen der Bloecke ist sehr blau mit sichtbarem Gelb.
Was meint Ihr dazu ?
PS - eine ausgebreitete Decke im Garten kann fuer unseren Hund nur eines bedeuten LOL

Happy New Year !

Here's wishing everyone near and far a very Happy New Year !  I hope you keep all your resolutions, and wish you health and happiness in the coming year.

The picture is of our dinner tonight - it has warmed up here so we were able to eat outside - paella, grilled tuna, scallops - wish I could have shared with you!

Christmas Mystery

Every year, my favorite quilt shop, Country Quilts n Bears in Clearwater, FL, offers a Christmas mystery.  I have gone to all of them except one, I think, and this year I was not able to go.  However, I did have a kit reserved and so therefore was able to sew it for myself.  I love this scrappy quilt, it was a lot of fun to sew (and I am not a good piecer !) and I am planning on making a couple more of these.  I am keeping the old fashioned look and not adding a border to this one.  It's about 50 x 70 inches.
I have had a Singer Featherweight for several years, but just on Sunday afternoon when I got out this kit, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out the machine and really play with it.  I enjoyed it so much that my big machine is staying in the closet for a while !  For simple piecing it is great, and I feel I can piece better because the machine is lower and I can see what I am doing.

I have written about this Christmas mystery before.  It has always been a lot of fun, someone different designs the quilt each time, sometimes there is a color choice and sometimes not, there are always many participants, and it is a fun way to collect up some Christmas quilts.  I still have a few of them "maturing" unfinished, but several are among my very favorite quilts.  Can't wait to see what they think of for next year !