Trapunto is a form of quilting in which a single outline in small running stitches is worked through two layers of relatively fine material. In this technique, the backing is a loosely woven cloth, such as muslin. The stitching is used to create a pattern, which is filled with cotton wadding drawn through the muslin from the back with a steel crochet hook. Each element of the design is padded in this manner.
Perhaps the oldest extant example of trapunto is the Sicilian Tristan quilt, dating to the late fourteenth century.
Also known as Italian quilting or stuffed quilting.
See also: boutis quilts; corded quilting; shadow quilting
Source: THOMAS, Mary (1936). Mary Thomas’s Embroidery Book, London: Hodder and Stroughton, p. 234.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 9 July 2016).
GVE