Merry Christmas Frohe Weihnachten Joyeux Noel

To everyone, may you enjoy a peaceful and joyous Christmas with your families

Symbolism in Boutis

I have been showing a lot of pictures of late, so I thought that, with a nod to the time of year when we think more about traditions, I could discuss a few of the symbols associated with the boutis. The wonderful thing to me about this work is that, in addition to the fine needlework and exquisite finishing that we admire, the pieces had real meaning to their makers. Sometimes we talk about our needlework being cheaper than a therapist, or helping keep us sane, but I think with the boutis a lot of hope was stitched into the work, at least that is my interpretation.

Designs used for marriage "jupons" and "vanes", for example hearts, all kinds of flowers for example cornflowers symbolizing the enchantment of love, fruit like pomegranates, vases and jars, shells meaning hospitality (especially the scallop shells marking the pilgrim trail of St Joseph of Compostela), fans, keys (for power and prosperity) and lyres (divine power, poetry music and harmony). There were often geometric forms such as squares and lozenges, and stars, all of which could be stuffed with smaller geometric shapes. When you look at a boutis, the types of flowers chosen and their individual meanings, as well as other designs (such as ears of wheat signifying wealth) will reveal a lot about the hopes and dreams of the "boutisseuse".

Some flowers and leaves were reserved for the petassons (petassoun), the small presentation boutis for the newborn, which were decorated with acanthus or oak leaves (meaning strength) and acorns, marguerites, dainty daisies (purity) and hydrangeas, sometimes birds. The central motif of the petassons could be a stylized star, with the channels usually running diagonally across the piece, and a scalloped edge richly stuffed. The symbolic designs used in the vanes and jupons will not appear on the petasson.

The examples mentioned are by no means exhaustive, there are many wonderful pieces to study and many more symbols to unlock. Even today, those ladies practising this art in its original home consider that a boutis design has to be considered, mulled over and carefully designed, as it is not a work to be undertaken lightly if one is to truly respect the tradition.

Small Finish

I have finished the first pochette, but I am not happy with how it turned out. However, I did learn something about how best to put one together when using mixed fabrics. I did think about taking it apart and redoing, but honestly, it was a learning experience and I will put that to good use on the next one. So here it is !

Ich habe das erste Taeschchen fertiggenaeht, bin aber damit nicht zufrieden. Ich habe allerdings etwas dazugelernt, wie man das am besten anpackt wenn man unterschiedliche Stoffe nimmt. Ich habe mir ueberlegt, ob ich nicht alles auseinandernehme und neu mache, aber so schlimm ist es nicht und ich mache das Naechste bestimmt besser - also entscheidet selbst !

Thankful !

We have wonderful neighbors, and for the past several years, we have shared our Thanksgiving meal together, both cooking and eating together. We eat at our house, and this year we also had some lovely things from France to add to our menu - caviar d'aubergines, anchoiade, and calissons, as well as the wine we bought in St Emilion and some interesting aperitifs. As usual, we stuffed a big turkey, made sweet potatoes, the traditional green bean casserole, corn souffle, cranberry sauce, cauliflower and broccoli, gravy, rolls, our daughter made pumpkin pie, and I made some red wine pears, a favorite for dessert. Here are a few photos of our feast- and I am thankful for all of it !

Wir haben sehr nette Nachbarn, und seit einigen Jahren feiern wir Thanksgiving zusammen, teilen das Kochen und essen zusammen. Wir essen immer bei uns zu Hause, und dieses Jahr hatten wir auch sehr schoene aus Frankreich mitgebrachte Sachen, z.B. caviar d'aubergines, anchoiade, und calissons, sowie Wein aus St Emilion und einige schoene Aperitife. Wie immer, haben wir einen grossen Truthahn gefuellt, haben Suesskartoffeln, ueberbackene gruene Bohnen, Maissouffle, Preiselbeersosse, Blumenkohl und Broccoli, und Broetchen vorbereitet, unsere Tochter hat Kuerbispies gebacken und und ich machte noch Rotweinbirnen, ein Lieblingsnachtisch. Hier sind einige Fotos von unserem Fest - und ich bin dankbar fuer alles !

New Pochettes

After Lou http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com encouraged us to show the pochettes we have made, I decided to set up a couple as I had been wanting to do this for a while. Because of the time of year, I chose a horn of plenty for one (the photo doesn't show the color well, it is a brighter blue), and a compilation of flowers for the other - this will have the body of the pochette in a print, and just the flap will be white batiste.

Nachdem Lou http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com uns gebeten hat, unsere Taeschchen in diesem Muster zu zeigen, wollte ich noch etwas vorbereiten, was ich eigentlich schon lange vorhatte. Wegen der Jahreszeit habe ich ein Horn of Plenty (mir faellt nun das deutsche Wort nicht ein) in blau fuer eine Tasche ausgesucht - die Farbe ist staerker als auf dem Bild zu sehen - und Blumen fuer die andere.

Lampshade in Boutis

Nicole persuaded me to try a lampshade class in boutis during my trip. She was even so gracious and stitched the boutis for me so we would be ready for class. Of course, the day we did it I was not feeling too well - something about too much cheese and wine on vacation ;-))

I really had fun doing this and definitely will make another one. First I have to find the necessary supplies. What do you think about how it turned out ?

Thanks to Annie Noual for the class and her hospitality.

Nicole hat mich ueberredet, einen Lampenschirmkurs waehrend des Urlaubs zu machen. Sie hat sogar alles fuer mich vorgenaeht, damit ich nicht alles von hier schleppen musste. Natuerlich war es dann auch so, dass mir am Kurstag sehr schlecht war - die allgemeine Meinung war, zuviel Kaese und Wein im Urlaub (koennte ja auch stimmen ;-)

Entgegen meiner Erwartung hat es viel Spass gemacht, und ich werde sicherlich noch einen machen. Erst muss ich alles Notwendige hier finden.

Danke auch an Annie Noual fuer den Kurs und ihre Gastfreundlichkeit.

Merci Annie Noual pour ce stage et ta gentillesse. Je suis tres contente de l'avoir fait, et je voudrais faire encore un. Il faut trouver les fournitures ici.

Antique Courtepointe

Nicole www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com and I went shopping in St Remy - and the first thing we saw, literally the first thing when we got out of the car (my husband was very patient with our shopping and always let us out before having to look for parking), was this wholecloth quilt. It is old, the fabrics are sturdy but not very inspiring, but the pattern of the stitching is very nice. It is made in the traditional French way with edges folded in not bound, and I really like the unusual pattern. I have washed it several times (it was very dirty) and there is one small spot, but otherwise it is in good condition. I am going to trace a quarter of the pattern, it is so nice it is worth making again !

First Prize Miniatures in Jacksonville !

I am absolutely delighted that this small boutis won first place in the miniatures category at the Jacksonville show www.quiltfestjax.com The basket of flowers is the original class piece designed by Nicole for the classes she taught here in March at West Pasco, and she offered me the piece as a gift. I thought that I might surprise her and entered it in the show (together with my large piece that I wasn't able to finish), and I was very happy to find out, when I got home from vacation, that it had won ! And even nicer (if that's possible), there was a money prize too !

Ich bin uebergluecklich, dass dieses kleine Boutis den ersten Platz in der Kategorie Miniatur bei dem Jacksonville Quiltfest gewonnen hat. Der Blumenkorb war das von der Nicole entworfenen Muster fuer ihre Klassen hier im Maerz bei West Pasco, und anschliessend hat sie es mir als Geschenk angeboten. Ich dachte, ich kann ihr eine kleine Ueberraschung bereiten und habe es fuer die Austellung eingetragen (zusammen mit meinem grossen Stueck, das ich leider nicht zeitig fertigstellen konnte). Ich war total begeistert als ich, nach dem Rueckkehr aus dem Urlaub, erfahren habe, dass es gewonnen hat. Und noch viel besser (wenn das moeglich ist), hat es obendrauf einen Geldpreis gegeben !

Je suis tres contente de vous dire, que ce petit boutis que Nicole m'a offert en mars a gagne la premiere place dans la categorie "miniatures" en Jacksonville cette annee. Je l'avais fait comme petite surprise pour elle, parce que son travail est vraiment magnifique. Venez visiter son blog a www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com

Boutis in Provence

We just got back from France last night, and I had to work today already. I wanted to show you something from our trip. I was very kindly invited by the ladies of Loisirs en Garrigue to visit their meeting in Nimes. On Thursday afternoon Nicole and I were welcomed to boutis, patchwork, tea and cake. I saw some very lovely boutis in progress and was happy to see that some ladies enjoy patchwork and quilting as well. I was treated to a wonderful welcoming speech in English (thank you, Annie) and was presented with this wonderful gift of local specialities. Ladies, this was a very special afternoon for me, thank you for your kind welcome and sharing your exquisite work with me.

Bonjour a toutes les dames de Loisirs en Garrigue, un grand merci a vous toutes pour cet accueil si chaleureux. Un seul apres-midi passe chez vous etait trop court, et je me remercie pour le cadeau avec les specialites regionales. N'hesitez pas a m'ecrire, et j'attends avec impatience vos commentaires ....

Fabulous Boutis

Go and visit Lou http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com
She has a post about a wonderful small exhibition held over the weekend in Langlade and she made a diaporama of the beautiful boutis shown there (so click on the diaporama)
She added the comments that very beautiful boutis have been stitched by Chantal Geoffroy, and says that this lady not only does wonderful work, but is very modest indeed.

Loose Stitches

A few of the ladies met here in my kitchen at the beginning of September for our Loose Stitches meeting. Everyone has been busy over the summer and some are still traveling, but a few of us made it. I took a couple of photos and wanted to show you - look at the fabulous owl (pattern from Hubert Valeri's book).

Einige der Loose Stitches Damen haben sich Anfang September hier in meiner Kueche getroffen. Alle sind im Sommer voll beschaeftigt, und einige sind noch unterwegs, aber es waren ein paar da. Ich habe einige Bilder gemacht, die ich zeigen wollte - schaut Euch mal die Eule an (Muster aus dem Buch von Hubert Valeri)

No meeting next month here - I will be in France !

Lei roucas dou barri Pierrefeu du Var

These hearts were made by Lou

This association has a wonderful exhibition planned for March 13-14, 2010. I heard about an interesting challenge from boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com that will form part of this show. It is called Boutis Wall of Love and the rules for participating are as follows:

Boutis hearts will be suspended from the wall, with the address of the participants on the back, as well as a note to the recipient. On March 14 there will be a drawing, and each heart will go home with someone other than the maker - that is, an exchange. If you are interested in participating, contact mame83@free.fr

The rules are as follows:

A heart in boutis, your own work, design of your choosing, size 7-20 cm (in inches approx. 2 3/4 x 7 3/4), made of batiste or cotton, white or color, stuffed with lavender, cotton, or other stuffing.

What do you think ? I hope that some of the ladies here will participate, there is plenty of time, and what a great concept. I am thinking about what to put on mine .......

Small Projects

I have been amusing myself with working on a couple of small things this week, they go fast and that is good sometimes. I have been working on a big vanne for a long time, so it was nice to have a break !

Diese Woche habe ich mich mit diesen kleinen Sachen amuesiert, es ist manchmal recht gut ein schnelles Ergebnis zu haben. Seit langem arbeite ich an einem grossen "Vanne", und die kleinen Naehaccessoires waren eine willkommene Abwechslung.

Welcome Lou to Blogging !

When you have a moment, go to visit http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com/, my friend Lou, who has just started her blog. She is sharing her favorite hobbies, boutis, stitching and pottery. Don't forget to leave her an encouraging comment, we all want to see more of her lovely work !

Wenn Ihr etwas Zeit habt, besucht http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com/ meine Freundin Lou, die gerade mit dem Bloggen angefangen hat. Sie teilt mit uns ihre Lieblingshobbies, Boutis, Kreuzstich und Toepfen. Nicht vergessen, ihr einen freundlichen Kommentar zu lassen, da wir noch mehr von ihrer tollen Arbeit sehen wollen !

Si vous avez un peu de temps, venez visiter Lou sur son nouveau blog http://www.boutis-et-cie.blogspot.com/. Elle partage avec nous ses loisirs favoris, le boutis, point de croix et la poterie. Ne pas oublier de laisser des commentaires, nous voulons voir ses autres ouvrages !

Boutis Book

Nicole sent me this glorious book for my birthday, I absolutely love it because it is completely my taste in the boutis, the traditional patterns and forms. It would be fair to say that I want to make ALL of the patterns in this book - which should keep me busy for some time !

Birthday Gifts

Angelika (http://www.onlyangelika.blogspot.com/) sent me this beautiful cat cross stitch for my birthday. She knows about the three spoiled cats who live here, and rule the roost !

Progress on stuffing

I have been making progress on stuffing my big vanne, but it is slow work ! I think the best way is just to set aside a certain amount of time each day and do it then, but I have been busy the last couple of weeks and haven't done anything. There is a great deal more to do and my plan was to have it finished in a couple of weeks, but unless I don't sleep between now and then, I won't make it !

Fortschritte habe ich beim Stopfen der Motive gemacht, aber es geht sehr langsam. Am besten plant man einfach taeglich dafuer etwas Zeit ein, aber ich hatte einfach viel zu tun in letzter Zeit und habe nichts gemacht. Es gibt noch jede Menge zu tun und ich wollte es bald fertig haben, aber das klappt nur, wenn ich nicht mehr schlafe !

Favorite Books and a New Project

Here are some of my favorite books on boutis, mostly in French and all gorgeous. I love books, and never get tired of looking through all the patterns, thinking about how to combine the different elements to come up with something new.

I also recently gave in to temptation (ok, didn't resist too long !) and bought a boutis pattern online, it was during a promotion where the batiste was offered free along with the pattern (if you want to be tempted too, go to http://www.boutis.fr/ the promotion is over but there are still very pretty things - no affiliation, etc). It arrived today, and is very beautiful, and I am already thinking about how that one will be stitched .... my big courtepointe is stitched now and ready for stuffing, it has taken a long time. With the big pieces, you really have to be disciplined and do some every day, but of course that's not me, so it has taken longer but has been a real pleasure to stitch. I will post some pictures when the stuffing has progressed.

Sharing our Passion / Leidenschaft teilen / Partageons notre passion

I would like to find out if anyone else would like to meet others interested in the boutis. It would be so great if people stitching on their own could find someone in their area also interested - before you know it, other boutis groups would be born ! I am looking for a French club wishing to exchange with our small group Loose Stitches here - please write to me via the blog. Anyone in German speaking countries ? Let me know - I would love to make this blog an international meeting point :-))
Ich moechte herausfinden, ob es Boutisbegeisterte gibt, die gerne andere ebensolche kennenlernen wollen. Ich faende es toll, wenn einzelne Boutisstickerinnen Anschluss in ihrer eigenen Region finden koennten - wer weiss, es koennte neue Boutisgruppen geben ! Ich suche auch einen franzoesischen Club, der gerne einen Austausch mit unserer kleinen Gruppe hier machen moechte - bitte schreibt mir ! Auch fuer deutschsprachige Laender - hat jemand Lust, mitzumachen ? Lass mich es wissen, es waere super, wenn dieser Blog zu einem internat. Boutistreffpunkt sich entwickelte :-))
Je cherche pour notre petit club ici en Floride un petit club boutis francais avec envie de faire un echange avec nous ici - soit pour les idees, soit pour les experiences, les astuces, et peut-etre meme pour une visite ? Qui a envie ? Nicole nous a fait appetit avec ses stages, nous voulons plus apprendre. Ecrivez-moi ici, merci.