I've got an idea for a project -- a rocking horse that I want to stand out from the background. Once the details are stitched, a piece of fabric could be attached to the back during the outlining. After a slit is cut in that fabric, the shape is stuffed.
I've done trapunto stuffing before but I'm doing something wrong -- when the piece is mounted, the outsides of the stuffed shape aren't flush with the backing -- there's not a clear delineation between the stuffed shape and the rest of the design.
Your thoughts, ideas, comments would be appreciated.
Please excuse me if I'm saying something you already know but, with trapunto, you often need to quilt around it for it to stand out. Essentially you're flattening the surrounding area to emphasise the 3D quality of the trapunto. If you really want it to be 3D you could put in a gusset between the stitched area and the background. Covered with braid it might look quite decorative.
An alternative suggestion is to stuff it with something more structural than polyester/cotton batting - maybe some heavy felt. It would take quite a bit of manipulation, I think, to get it in all the nooks and crannies.
Or there's that puffy foam which you stitch over - can't remember what that's called.
I know the theory but haven't gotten it to work in practise . It's likely that I'm overstuffing and/or not stretching the finished piece tight enough so that it lays flat on the backing board.
"anne" wrote > I know the theory but haven't gotten it to work in practise . It's
I think overstuffing is a real temptation--I know I've done it. You want the piece to look nice and rounded. But I find you have to let the quilting do its work of defining the edges, and if you stuff things too much, that doesn't happen.
I was thinking about this today during my drive home and came up with another possible way to make it rocking horse more 3D. Work the rocking horse on a piece of fabric and make it slightly bigger than you want the finished horse to be. Then trim the fabric at (I'm guessing here) 1/4 inch. Run a gathering stitch all around the edges of the piece. Lay batting or felt, cut to the proper size, on the back of the horse, and pull the stitch so the edges turn under. Then slip stitch the entire thing onto your background fabric.
I have no clue if this would work, but in theory it might!
I know that i have seen such a work of a Rocking Horse that is Over the back ground , now i have to remember where and i can look what they did , and tell you ,, mirjam
That's a good suggestion; I've done that on several pieces. For this go round, I want to try trapunto. I've found the perfect royalty free graphic to practise with.
Okay, Anne, it's time to go back to your library and request it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). They will be able to find a copy for you somewhere. :)
I know that and if the topic isn't covered in the book that I was told was available for pick up, I'll put in an ILL request. I love that someone was smart and got most of the services online ... but someone ought to tell 'em how slow most of the pages are to load, even with a high speed connection.
Anne, you've gotten some good suggestions. I actually took a class in Machine Trapunto a few years ago at the AQS symposium in Nashville. A way to do this without the laborious handstitching/stuffing. Essentially, traditionally, you would stitch the design (quilt it) through the main fabric (front) to the backing. The, the area to be done in trapunto - you would leave a small opening, then go in and stuff it with batting. Hard to do. In the machine method, she had us use a poly-fill batting, make a sandwhich between a muslin, and the real fabric, and then stitch the outline of the design - through the batting, etc. Then we went in an trimmed the batting back, so had the raised area, clearly outlined, and just puffed up enough. Then you would use the motif in the quilt with the rest of the pieces, to backing. I'm sure this is clear as mud. But, the instructor did tell us that she was quite happy using the "cheap" poly batting as it did really well for holding a good shape, height in the trapunto areas.
I know there are some instructions somewhere on the web. The instructor for that class was Jane Jones Worley (who wrote Quilts for Chocolate Lovers), and was one of the best needlework/quilting instructors I've ever had the pleasure to take a class from. There are some books at this Amazon link that you might try to get a look at. I've seen the machine trapunto book, it's pretty nice.
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about the confusing instructions - I'll have to find the box with thatstuff in it (from my as yet not unpacked sewing/studio area). Ellice
I understand the concepts you mentioned but implementing them is another matter. I not only can't count, I'm construction challenged
The rocking horse is embroidered and stem stitched around the outline which attached a piece of cotton to the back. Later today, I'll snip an opening and stuff the figure.
Wanna take bets on whether the results are what they should be?
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