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Trapunto Turtle by Machine
Debora Konchinsky, Critter Pattern Works

"Have you ever tried Trapunto by Machine"?  Here is a project that I made with machine Trapunto. There is a drawing for you to print out, (use a copier to enlarge it).  The fabric should be about 20" wide and 16" high. The first layer of batting goes behind the turtle. This extra padding is held in place by  Wash-a-way thread. (YLI � Wash-a-Way thread is useful when doing tranpunto, it  is a water soluble basting thread). The batting is clipped. Another full layer of batting is added with backing fabric. The quilting is done. Spray the quilt top with water and the wash-a-way thread disappears. The trapunto effect pops out. If you use muslin without pre-washing, the shrinking will cause a more pronounced effect!

 Here is how to do it:

1.  Print  out the turtle drawing . Enlarge it to 10 1/2 inches long. Regular muslin works well here. Do not preshrink it.  Trace or draw the image on your fabric. Place a piece of cotton batting behind the fabric and secure the two layers together with pins.  Then thread the machine with the Wash-a-Way thread in the needle and regular thread in the bobbin.  Sew around the image edges. 

2.Cut away any batting outside the stitching line. This will give you an extra layer of batting in your quilt sandwich.  Construct your quilt in your normal fashion.   After you have put all your blocks (if you want more than one image in your quilt) together and quilted the top with the complete layer of batting and backing. 

3.When you are finished quilting, and have put on the binding, then spray the quilt top with water to dissolve the Wash-a-Way. The shrinking of the muslin will help bring out the relief effect of the trapunto.

 If you like the idea of this technique, Hari Walner has a new book, Exploring Machine Tranpunto. To see it click here: http://critterpat.com/trapunto.html  

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