Trapunto fun: DQS7 progress

I have always wanted to try trapunto, but have been deathly afraid to try it. First of all it sounded way to complicated and second of all I felt like my free motion skills weren't up to the challenge of trapunto.

Well I grabbed the bull by the horns and just went for it yesterday! I had so much fun I think I have found a new passion!

My free motion skills have improved by leaps and bounds since my first free motion project a couple of months ago. I owe it all to a secret tool that I discovered and I will be showing you how to make your very own sometime soon. I promise! I also owe a lot of the credit to my new love...

Say hello to my Brother PQ1300!!

I scored this baby off of eBay for about $350. It is the predecessor to the PQ1500 (which you can find for about $800 new) and is rather hard to find and no longer made. It is identical to the PQ1500 but instead of sewing 1500 stitches per minute it only (insert sarcasm) sews at a mere 1300 stitches per minute! I love the 9" throat space and the super responsive foot control. Oh and I'm 100% positively in love with the knee lift!

I got this baby a couple of weeks before moving from TN and it only made it out of it's box to make sure it was in working order then it went right back in. I only now pulled it out and have been using it for the nine patch quilt along and for working on the peacock. There is no better way to learn how to use a machine than by working on a project with it.

The only bad thing about my machine is that the lady I bought it from had lost the large extension table that came with it. I called my brother dealer from back in TN to check on the price for replacing it and he said Brother quoted him $180-ish!!! HA! Apparently the reason it is so high is because they don't sell it separate and they no longer make it. Well there is now way in the world I would ever pay that much! So I'll be ordering a custom made table for well under $180!

So how did I accomplish this great feat of trapunto? I actually did it all by machine and it went rather quickly. The hardest part was cutting away the fabric and that was only because it took so long!


1) Trace your design with water soluble marker onto your quilt top
2) Decide which areas you want to be "fluffy." I just colored on my design template in red crayon those areas I wanted "fluffy" so I could have something to reference as I quilted
3) Lay your quilt top on to a piece of batting (I used quilters dream poly in white) using Basting Spray to secure it.
4) Using water soluble thread (I used YLI Wash-a-way thread $3.95/spool) stitch around all the areas you want "fluffy
5) Cut away all of the batting from the back of the quilt except in the areas that you wan to be "fluffy." Be very careful not to cut a hole in your quilt top! I found a pair of cuticle scissors handy for really small spaces
6) Now layer your quilt as you normally do: quilt top, batting, backing. Thread your machine with regular thread and quilt around your motif as you normally would!

When you are done you will dissolve the wash a way thread and the blue marker leaving you with a beautiful finish piece. I know it sounds complicated but don't shy away from it! Give a try with something simple like a single flower or something, just to practice.

First layer quilted with water soluble thread

Water soluble thread detail


Here I have quilted through all layers in regular thread after I cut away my excess batting. You can start to see how certain areas are raised. This will be accented further once I do the background quilting.



and to give you an idea of what the quilt will look like, the reverse of the quilt

I still need to quilt the background before I take the quilt to water to wash away the thread and the ink. I still haven't decided if I will proceed with my plan of adding color to the quilt.









PS I need some help naming my Brother. Give me some suggestions and if I choose yours I'll send you a little something. I haven't decided if it's a guy or a gal so I'm open to all suggestions!