A Boutis-liscious finish for TGIFF

Welcome to this week's TGIFF link party.



 ( I know my days and dates are all out of whack this week so apologies for posting this too early!)

I have finished my first ever Boutis project, it is definitely small but I am nonetheless thrilled with how it turned out! The project is part of a larger undertaking by my EG branch, where we were all invited to take a small piece of board and sign up to make a piece for the the board using a particular stitch technique. I chose to try my hand at Boutis, as I had been wanting to give it a go for a while and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I traced a Celtic Knot pattern on my Batiste fabric and basted the traced fabric to a square of white cotton then placed them in the hoop.

Using DMC Coton a Broder 20 I backstitched over the traced lines.

The work is then turned over in the hoop so that the back of the stitching is uppermost. My book tells me then to stuff between the stitched lines with cotton yarn, and recommends threading the stuffing needle with cotton thread and using it to "lasso" the cotton yarn to pull it through between the stitching and layers of fabric. Well, I just couldn't get that to work for me at all, so I just threaded the stuffing needle with the cotton yarn and pulled it through on its own, and it worked just fine. You can see the ends of the yarn in the photo above. Thank goodness for my Karen Kay Buckley Scissors, they made short work of snipping off those ends :)

When the stuffing and snipping was complete this is what I ended up with.

The fabric didn't completely hide the board backing so I backed it with a small piece of white wadding and then pinned it to the board, before lacing the back.

I blanket stitched a piece of white felt to cover the back and it is now ready to join the other stitched pieces. The plan is ( I think) to join them together in some manner to make a wall hanging for the upcoming exhibition, but for now I am just relieved to have successfully completed my first ever piece of Boutis work :)

Now it is your turn to show off your finishes. Check out some of the other linkers too and share the joy of that heady finished feeling :)

Don't forget to add the blog button to your post or sidebar so that your readers can join in the fun too!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Up for the challenge?

If like me, your New Year resolutions are looking a bit shaky already, how about taking up a short, sharp challenge to get that motivation going? Last year, Jen, issued her 100 Day Challenge where we were invited to set three goals to be completed in 100 days. I managed to meet one of the three goals that I set for myself and actually finished the other two projects not long after the challenge ended, so when I read that Jen was going to run the challenge again this year, I was definitely ready to be counted in :)

I have so many WIP's and hoped for new projects in my sewing room that it has been difficult to decide which to focus on for the challenge. However, I have decided to narrow it down to these three in the hope that finishing them will  also motivate me to finish some of the other projects waiting to be dusted down and worked on.

•  I really want to use this challenge to try and get to grips with this fearsome beast! I have lots of lovely knit fabric, some great Brindille and Twig patterns and a handsome little fellow who is growing out of his clothes at a rate of knots, so there is plenty of motivation to get started. By the end of the 100 days I would like to have made at least one full set of clothes for the little fellow. 

• A few months ago I volunteered to make a small Boutis piece for my EG group. I bought the book, then found the recommended Batiste fabric on our last trip to France but I struggled to find the cotton stuffing either locally or online. On a recent, unsuccessful, shopping trip to source bedroom furniture I came across a nearby wool shop selling cotton yarn that looks like it might fit the bill. So, armed with the supplies I no longer have an excuse for putting off trying this any longer :)

• These blocks, and some added since this photo was taken, are from the Craftsy BOM of 2012! I need to add sashing, which I have the fabric for, and then work out how to quilt it. I doubt very much if I will get the quilting completed for the challenge, I am an arch procrastinator when it comes to basting quilts, but I would like it, at least, to become a completed quilt top!

So, these are my challenges to myself for the 100 Day Challenge. wish me luck :)

If you think that 100 days to challenge yourself sounds like a great idea, check out Jen's post here and find out how easy it is to join in the fun.