I'm finally "back in the saddle" again and able to start quilting.  Boy does it feel good!!!  My first priority was to get back on our boutis challenge and I'm excited to share some great progress this week! Since this fragile linen is so wiggly I wanted to make sure my straight lines stayed straight so I stitched these first with my piecing foot.  I'm using #100 Kimono Silk and a Microtex Sharp 60/10 needle and also used Hobbs Tuscany Silk Batting.   I really should have taken more photos as I went along but I was enjoying the quilting so...

The last time I posted an update on our boutis challenge it was one day before the fire.  Little did I know that one day later our lives would change forever.  Because of my heavy involvement with the Paradise Camp Fire survivors I was unable to work on my piece, for obvious reasons, so I folded it up and tucked it away until life calmed down for a bit.  Karen was still able to work on her piece.  Hers is done...I haven't seen it yet, but she took photos of her process and I will share as if we were...

As you know Karen Azevedo is doing a traditional boutis for our challenge and I am doing the same chosen pattern on a vintage linen but I'm doing it free motion quilting.  I love to do wholecloth miniatures so thought this was the perfect opportunity to do another one. I chose a beautiful drawn-thread work linen and traced the pattern.  I added a center medallion in the middle (this is also from the book).  I added a couple small borders in the little areas around the edge. This piece measures 11" in the middle and the small borders are 1/2"...

I featured my good friend Karen Azevedo this past August and showed her just completed boutis quilt.  Seems there has been a lot of interest lately about this type of work.  I have several boutis books and love them because of the incredible paper patterns that I trace on vintage linens and free motion quilt.   Karen does the traditional boutis by hand. Karen came up with the idea to do a challenge...we agree on a pattern, give ourselves a deadline, and we each do our piece as we wish.  She will do hers in  the corded whitework method of boutis...

Karen Azevedo and I have been good friends for many, many years and I have always been in awe of her incredible talent.  She does amazing quilting and  handwork and  was also one of the featured quilters at my 2016 special exhibit in Houston. One of her passions is  Provencal Boutis.  I am the lucky recipient of a few small gifted pieces of her work but I just HAD to show you the beautiful large piece she just finished yesterday.  There are simply no words... I'll share Karen's brief story and photos below. FABULOUS job Karen!!!!   Hugs, Cindy :) "I...