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 !