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.

Happy Mothers' Day !

I just added the link http://www.boutis.org/ which is a wonderful selection of boutis photos from an exhibition at Pierrefeu du Var end March of this year. There are several pages of wonderful photos, interesting ideas and fabulous work quality for us to aspire to ! When you get to the bottom of the first page, click on "cliquez ici ......" and then for subsequent pages on "suivante" (for those non-French speakers !)

And also, send me your comments ! Ask questions, send me links to interesting boutis sites, add some history, that would be great !!

Boutis Exhibition in Generac France

I have just added a video link of a wonderful boutis exhibition in Generac, France, where France Boutis (see link at right) was the guest of honor. Please take a moment and view the video, it really is wonderful ! (By the way, it is the clip with the smiling Annie Noual !!)

New Techniques

We learned a lot during Nicole's classes, and what I most enjoyed was focusing on new techniques and updating methods. I was not very good at making the Rosette de Petite Camargue, but now I have to say things are much better ! I set myself a goal of practising 10 at a time, which didn't take as long as I thought, and now my work has really improved.

Wir haben von der Nicole viel gelernt, und was mir am besten gefallen hat, war die neuen Techniken zu lernen, und bessere Methoden auszuprobieren. I habe die Rosette de Camargue einfach nicht gemeistert, aber nun geht alles viel besser. Ich habe mir ein Ziel gesetzt, 10 auf einmal zu ueben, was nicht allzu lange gedauert hat, und die Arbeit faellt jetzt wirklich besser aus.

A wonderful visit

On Friday we went to Homosassa state park to look at the manatees - sorry about the picture quality, the manatees don't always look at you when you want them to ! It was such a pleasure to have Nicole here for two weeks, we enjoyed our vacation and especially meeting all the ladies taking the boutis classes.

I hope everyone will continue to work on the boutis and learn more about it. I am trying to make some progress on my large "vane".

Danke an Angelika fuer die Kommentare - hier siehst Du mich endlich ! Ich lasse mich aeusserst ungern fotografieren - hier hat mein Mann mich erwischt.

Je voudrais aussi essayer d'ecrire quelques mots en francais. Surtout, un grand merci an Nicole d'avoir fait ce voyage, si loin de sa maison, pour partager sa passion pour le boutis avec nous. Sa gentillesse et patience avec les stagiaires etaient tres appreciees. J'espere que nous arriverons a echanger plus avec les filles en France, ce serait un bonheur pour nous toutes :-))

Nicole's Boutis Class

Today we had our first teaching day at the Veteran's park in West Pasco. It was a glorious day, we had a great classroom with perfect lighting for the class. The ladies all worked hard and we wondered sometimes why it was so quiet :-)) Anyway, just like yesterday, here are some pictures:

Presentation West Pasco

We had a great day today at the West Pasco Quilters Guild meeting. Nicole and I drove up this morning, full of trepidation that all would go well. Everyone was very kind and welcoming, we are very grateful for that, and Nicole did a great job with her presentation. The boutis were so fabulous, they spoke for themselves. After the presentation, some of the ladies went with us for lunch. Mary had the great idea of eating at the beach in Hudson, and we loved it - lunch outside with a view of the Gulf of Mexico, what could be better ! AND we tried "gator" thanks to Mary - I would never have chosen this on my own, even after living 19 years in Florida !

So here are some pictures to share - et bonjour a Jean-Paul, David, Laeticia et Thomas - un grand merci pour m'avoir "prete" Nicole pour ces deux semaines.

Fantastic Boutis Day for the Loose Stitches !

Today we gathered at my house for Nicole's private class for the Loose Stitches group. I won't write too much, I just want to let you see some pictures - didn't take many because I was busy ! The ladies very kindly brought food to share so we enjoyed a very nice lunch too. Everyone learned new things, and we laughed a lot.

Nicole is coming soon !!!!!

Yesterday evening the Loose Stitches gathered here at my home to enjoy some stitching and packing up of kits for our upcoming classes with wonderful French boutis teacher Nicole Carre. The excitement is getting high. We have two full classes on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March, with Nicole giving a presentation at West Pasco Quilters Guild on Thursday March 19th.

The founding members are having a private class here with Nicole before that, with a wonderful pattern she has designed just for us. And the classes will enjoy another original pattern, designed just for the class, with options for more experienced stitchers. It will be wonderful and I can hardly wait !