Feather Princesses' Show in Tampa

I have been meaning to post pictures from this show, but work and other things have got in the way, and I am amazed that the show was already two weeks ago and I have not written about it. The Feather Princesses is a wonderful applique guild from Tampa, I am a sadly absent member most of the time since they meet during the week. However, I was able to go to the show one evening, and although every single quilt was truly beautiful, here are a few of my personal favorites.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and enjoyed the company of friends and family.

Next post I will be writing about the origins of the word "boutis" since I had a question about that recently.

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.

International Quilt Study Center - Exhibition on Marseille corded quilting

There is a major exhibition starting this month at the International Quilt Study Center on Marseille whitework/corded quilting - well, what we call boutis. It is curated by Kathryn Berenson, and she has written a new book to accompany this exhibit. I received mine last week (ordered through Amazon) and for those as passionate about the history of boutis as I am, it is a treasure.

The study center allows one to sign up to receive a link to a quilt of the month, and you've guessed it, this month it is a petasson with a link to three more.

So just for the pleasure of looking here is the link: www.quiltstudy.org/collections/quilt_of_the_month

What has impressed me is that the photos are of wonderful quality. It is very difficult to show the detail on these white items and you can really see the relief in detail.

You can also browse the collections of the Quilt Study center, which I think is absolutely marvellous - there is so much to see and you can do it from the comfort of your own computer !