The Quilty Gathering Continues

As you can well imagine...when four quilters get together there is never a dull moment! We talked, laughed and sewed. I was treated to a lesson in the French technique, Boutis...looks similar to trapunto.

These are some of the pieces Cécile has made.

Here's the one from the above photo on the left, held against the light. This is a work in progress. Every bit of this will be filled with cotton yarn. All the sewing is done...the stuffing is left to complete.

Cécile prepared identical little samples for all of us to work on. Two layers of a light weight batiste, basted together and design drawn and ready for stitching. Fine stitches must go on every line. I started in the center and filled about half of the design. I needed to try my hand at filling spaces with the yarn before I left. I just managed to do that!

Here is where I am after two evenings spent finishing up all the stitching.You can see the tiny bit I stuffed on the flower before I left Christelle's house. I am determined to finish this and plan to work on it a little bit every day. It will make an adorable pincushion. It is a 4-inch square.

 

Cécile and Corinne have blogs of their own which I will link to next. It was great fun to be featured in someone else's blog!

Cécile's Blog - Patchwork Inspirations

Corinne's Blog - L'atelier de Cocopatch (Translates to Cocopatch Workshop)

I also brought some gifts for each of the ladies and Christelle's daughter who joined in the fun. I neglected to get a photo of her project. She was crocheting a scarf.

Anyway...here was my secret little patchwork project I was working on around Christmas...little, bitty, sewing baskets...recycled from wooden baskets that cherry tomatoes are sold in at my local supermarket. Cherry tomatoes are easily my favorite fruit/vegetable. I eat them like grapes. I have about 50 of these baskets...I've been hoarding them...knowing there was something wonderful I could do with them.

I know a few quilty friends in Alaska are going to spy these on my blog and wonder where their's are...I'm getting started on them right now!

Just a few lose ends to wrap up...

Christelle pulled out her Elna Grasshopper for me.  She has two but one is for "parts." These are adorable machines! The case is metal and looks like an Army container. My men would love the look!

And I just have to show you Christelle with her two cats, Garlic...I love the halo around Christelle's head!

And Fender. 

These two Maine Coon cats have convinced my husband we should get a cat again when we get back to Alaska. He likes how huge these Maine Coon cats can be and sounds like they are perfect for cold weather climates. Bingo!!!

Fun French Facts...I know Christelle will correct me if I get this wrong...but...as I understand it...the French assign a letter to the year that cat names should begin with. For instance...when Christelle got Garlic, the letter for the year was  "G". "F" for the year they got Fender...like Fender Guitars. Anyway...just in case you are wondering...2015 is "K". I don't think we are going to follow this...because we are already thinking of names and as we usually do...we are leaning toward names related to well know historical leaders...Ceasar...Midas. We have a stipulation that all pet names must have two syllables. We hope to get a male cat...but that is still a little bit in a our future.

Oops. A correction to make. This pattern is from the book, "The Blue and the Grey," a book highlighting Civil War fabrics. I had the wrong book cited in my previous post.

And apologies to Christelle's other cat, Kimmie, a Ragdoll. I missed getting a photo of her.

It was a great day. I invited myself over to Christelle's tomorrow. She has a wonderfully large and peaceful park near her home. I have many questions about French politics...we are planning on going for a very long walk. My main questions revolve around immigration and the different political parties....I sure hope it doesn't rain!

One last thought.

It was amazing to watch all the marches in Paris and throughout Europe that took place yesterday and on previous days. It was very moving. I am sorry the United States leadership was so prominently missing. 

Cartoon by Mike Peters.

Part Two of Quilters Gathering

As promised, more quilty goodies to see. Next were Cécile's quilts. This first one was very contemporary but with a traditional twist. She appliquéd by hand all of the circles and it is hand quilted.

I really have an interest in doing a double wedding ring someday...I should embrace this notion of doing smaller quilts because then I could make even more quilts! Cécile's version is hand pieced and quilted.

I believe this is another small quilt from the book, "Small Treasures from Scraps." It is hard to tell in this picture but it is a small quilt...tiny little triangles.

Machine pieced and hand quilted. A bigger quilt!

A log cabin pattern...also machine pieced and hand quilted...I think you can see the circular quilting pattern fairly well...it complements the block design very well.

Another sweet mini quilt.

I know it is hard to believe but there were still a few quilts I hadn't seen of Christelle's. Her husband was able to have lunch with us and the next three quilt projects are ones Christelle made for him. He had some quilty show and tell too!

This is a lap-sized quilt with crazy quilting stitches along each arc....each is different. This is a quilt you could look at for a long time. All done by hand.

An example of Sashiko stitching.

Christelle's husband was recently working at NATO and she made this star block to commemorate his time with NATO. But...the quilting husband has an eye for design. He didn't like the center star colors of yellow and orange resting on top of the red...so this became the back side.

He liked this version much better! It is batiks so I think it is stunning!

I have yet more to share which I am going to turn into a third part. We actually put our hands to a  unique French project. Meanwhile, I am going to try and finish it up before I post tomorrow!

A Gathering of Quilters

It seems ages ago but on last Tuesday I had a quilting day with Christelle and two of her friends, Corinne and Cécile, whom I have been sharing emails with the past year. We all met at her house for the entire day. Christelle's daughter, Christine was there too. It just dawned on me the preponderance of "C"s in this gathering. They all spoke fabulous English so it was a real treat!

I asked Corinne and Cécile to bring some show and tell for our meeting. It was so amazing...so much lovely hand quilting. I hardly know where to start!

Corinne went first so I will start with her collection of bags. I apologize in advance for blurry photos now and then.

This is a technique new to me...mesh work? 

The other side. So interesting. Both designs are accomplished with  woven strips.

This satchel has a batiki look but it is cotton prints. All pieced on an interfacing type of foundation so it was very difficult sewing through all the layers. (This one is all done on the machine.)

Then there was a series of small quilts...most of the patterns are from  the book, "Small Treasures from Scraps."

And...Christelle made some from the book also...so we got to see those too.

A few more from Christelle.

And yet more from Christelle...and all hand quilted. I am beginning to think she must hand quilt in her sleep!

Back to Corinne! They know I am a batik girl so she brought this work in progress for me. I love it! All the beautiful red work squares mixed with the batiks. I believe this is basted and ready for handquilting but....Corinne is not feeling the  urge to work on this right now. That's how we all get those darn UFOs!

Corinne is a history teacher...and this little quilt has an historical theme. I should have shown the inspiration fabric...which was on the backside...that all the pieces were cut from...kind of like a stack and wack....but really each piece was fussy cut.

One final piece from Corinne...her little traveling work bag. Love this!

I have more photos to show from our day. I think it is best to make part two for tomorrow!

Time for a Long Walk

I'm so relieved the two hostage situations have concluded and the three gunman have been killed. Friday was a scary day in Paris. I spent it glued to my couch, watching television and working on this stocking.

I don't normally finish a stocking in a week. I am stiff from sitting in one place for so long. I'm going for a long walk...restocking my cupboards and hopefully sharing some wonderful quilting photos later in the day.

Sunset in Paris

The sun finally came out...though it was a bit late in the day.

I have so much fun quilting to share...I've been a bit consumed with television news coverage but I will get back to the normal routine...whatever that is!

A-Okay!

I've gotten a few emails from friends and family worried about me in Paris with the shooting at the Paris political magazine today so thought I would do a quick post just to say I'm good! The location of the shooting is pretty far away from our apartment. The amateur video I have seen from the shooting has been very shocking and scary. It is so sad and frustrating. I always try to be aware of my surroundings whether in a big city or walking through the woods of Alaska. As my husband would say, "Keep your head on a swivel stick."

Launching in the New Year

Tomorrow is going to be an extra special day...Christelle is hosting a quilting day at her home tomorrow. I will take lots of photos! I've been a little busy putting together a little something to share with the ladies....but of course I can't talk about that yet.

So...on the non-quilting front I've been working on cross stitch. Yukon Santa just needs a beard and his hat attached to his head.

I finished the last three ornaments for the Bowling with Santa stocking .

Bowling with Santa stocking and all the companion ornaments.

I'm excited to get started on new stocking kits. What did I choose?

Christmas on the Farm

and Holiday Drive.

It must be the quilter in me... I like to have two stockings going at a time. Strange! No companion ornaments for these stockings.

My son is back in Alaska. My husband leaves tonight and will be gone most of January.  I have a lot of projects planned to keep me busy!!! February will be a month with lots of travel for me so I will embrace this month's quietness.