The big thing I've been into this week has been trapunto. I've played around with machine trapunto in the past but I'd just not had the chance to play around with a whole cloth trapunto quilt. I think I just have too may "to do next" quilts on my list!
I wanted to experiment a bit before delving into a big quilt as there's a bazillion (yes, that's a legitimate figure there) different ways to achieve basically the same effect. Here's what I did...
First I printed out a stitching design from EQ6. I truthfully don't remember what this was called or what it was under in the stitch library - I just looked for roses because I knew I wanted flowers and cross hatching...I saw this then re-sized it and hit print!
I don't have a light box and tracing this at the table wasn't cutting it so I taped it up to the window while singing "Santa is that you?" by Louis Armstrong on the cable music channel and thoroughly embarrassed my children by wiggling my derriere in the window...oh yes and traced the pattern on to fabric with water soluble marker.
I was REALLY itching to try this so I went ahead and stitched with white thread onto the design with a layer of batting behind it...then quickly realized that once I add the next layer of batting and backing - there was going to be a LOT of backtracking. Yuck. So LESSON learned here - next time I'm going to tack on the layers of batting with water soluble thread, then layer my quilt and stitch with white thread. That way I get my poof without gobs and gobs of thread accumulation.
Oh yes, and I like to remove water soluble marker with a little water and q-tips...but sometimes you just have to submerge it all in water to really get it out. That's what happened here. It kept coming back! So I just soaked the whole thing and pinned it up for blocking. I wasn't too particular about squaring it up perfect, this was just for fun. But in the future I will square it up and make sure it's all stretched back out to the right size and square.
I used three layers of high loft polyester batting under the poofy trapunto area...I LOVE IT!!!
This was so much fun! I may do a few more test pieces just to get my technique down. I love this though, so elegant looking isn't it?
So now what you're really here for! Give away winners!!!
Thank you to all those who entered my little PDF pattern give away, took the time to comment and "like" me on Facebook! You are so kind!!!
I put all the names in a random number generator - if you like'd my page on Facebook then you went in two times...and the winners are...
MARLA's CRAFTS
VT QUILTER
ARLETTE
I will email you your PDF Pineapple Snowmen patterns very shortly! Thank you so much for entering!!!
- Valerie :)
