Trapunto is a technique that has been used for centuries. It is the art of adding padding to create a raised surface on fibers. You’ll see this technique used in leather goods as well as textiles. It’s easy to add texture to your quilt with machine trapunto quilting.
To show the trapunto technique, I made this cute little heart sampler.

How to do Trapunto Quilting
Learn how to do trapunto quilting by machine with our easy step-by-step directions.
This is a simple technique that is fun to do and adds texture to your quilts.
Materials
- 12" x 12" piece of fabric for the front of your sampler
- 14" x 14" piece of fabric for the backing
- 14" x 14" piece of thin cotton quilting batting
- Strip of fabric about 60" long for binding
- Design to trace on your fabric
- Two layers of high loft polyester batting about 1-inch larger than your design area
- Coordinating thread
- Contrasting thread for quilting, if desired
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Removable fabric marker, I used a Frixion pen
- Sharp scissors
- Safety pins
Instructions
- Start by gathering your design and laying it on your fabric.
- Trace around your design on the right side of your fabric with a removable fabric marker. I used a Frixion pen. Always test your marker on a scrap of fabric first!
- Here is my marked fabric, the batting that is larger than my design. I'm ready to secure the batting to the fabric.
- Next, take your double layer of extra loft batting and center it on the drawn design on the wrong side of your fabric. Pin it in place with safety pins.
- Now it is time to secure your batting to the wrong side of your fabric. Using the free motion foot on your sewing machine. Stitch along your marked line. Make sure you are catching the batting with your stitching.
- Next, turn your piece over and carefully trim the excess batting from the stitching line.
- I like to turn back the fabric and cut close to the stitching. Use sharp scissors and be careful not to cut your fabric.
- Here is the back of the piece with the batting cut away from the design area.
- Now it is time to sandwich your quilt. Layer your backing fabric down on your table, a layer of thin cotton quilting batting and your quilt top with the extra loft batting touching the cotton batting to make your quilt sandwich.
- Machine quilt with a dense design. Pick a design that can be stitched right up to your stitching line for your design. I did some free-motion hearts on the background. The dense quilting helps make your extra padded design pop even more.
- Finish your piece by trimming and adding a binding. See our article on how to add binding with mitered corners.
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Tips and ideas for machine trapunto quilting
- For your first attempt, select a simple trapunto design. Ideas include a simple heart (like I did for the sample) or maybe some circles on a background. There are amazing complex designs of vines, save those for when you have some experience with this technique!
- Find a print fabric you love for the top fabric. Add layers of extra batting around some of the elements to make them pop.
- I kept my feed dogs up while doing the free-motion stitching. I find that it helps keep everything a little more secure while stitching.
- A great way to quilt around your design is with narrow lines – either vertical, horizontal, or in a grid pattern. The key is to make sure you have heavy quilting around the design.
- If you have an embroidery machine or embroidery attachment for your sewing machine, select a design with a lot of open space. Use the trapunto technique to prepare your fabric before stitching out your design to give it some extra dimension.
Here are some amazing examples of trapunto with artists we’ve interviewed:

Read our interview with Cecilia

Read our interview with Judith
Art Quilt Group challenge: new techniques and layers
Cover to Cover Book Club Quilters challenge: Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
Mining towns left the landscapes and lives changed. Once the mines stopped producing, the towns were abandoned, but the stories lived on in the memories of the men and women. I tried to convey a feeling of time and isolation.
Techniques: original design began with flower pounding, appliqué , painting, embroidery, trapunto, 3D leaves, stumpwork spider, metal work (windmill) and plastic for broken window.

Read our interview with Deborah
Browse through more quilt tutorials on Create Whimsy. Read our article all about batting.




