Supply List

Arabesque: An Embellished Trapunto Project

Martine House, Instructor

French-born Martine House has authored three books on fine hand work in France.  She has lived in the US for more than 20 years and loves to combine both cultures, blending European needlework techniques with American quilting.  Join her in making this elegant wall hanging.

Finished size of the project: 26 1/2" x 26 1/2"
See student quilts in the Gallery

Fabric Requirements

• 1 yard of white Kona cotton or good quality white muslin for the top
• 1 yard of white muslin for the back
• 1 yard of low-loft polyester batting
• 4 prints: choose either coordinating fabrics you like or fabrics in the following colors (these match the colors shown in the photograph)
  • 1/2 yard of fabric 1 (light pink background with darker pink floral print) for the large appliqué scroll
  • 1/2 yard of fabric 2 ((dark blue tone on tone) for the thin bias strip, the binding and 4 small appliqué pieces
  •  1/8 yard of fabric 3 (burgundy background and pink printed design) for 4 small appliqué pieces
  •  1/8 yard of fabric 4 (light pink solid or tone on tone) for 4 small appliqué pieces

My sample was done with batik fabrics but the specific fabrics I used are probably not available any more.

Tools and Thread

• tracing (transparent paper) enough to make a 30" square
• lead pencil and sharpener
• black marker
• washable blue fabric marker
• light-box (instructions to make an inexpensive light box are given in Lesson One)
• regular sewing thread matching the colors of your appliqué fabrics
• appliqué needles
• embroidery scissors
• bias bars
• sewing machine (only for Lesson One - making bias strips and Lesson Five sewing the binding to the top)
• embroidery (crewel) needles no. 8
• 1 skein of DMC floss of the following colors: gold/tan (DMC 738), dark blue (DMC 932) and light blue (DMC 775), dark pink (DMC 223), medium pink (DMC 778) and light pink (DMC 819).
• FOUR 1/2" diameter shi sha mirrors
• small round gold seed beads (no. 11 or smaller)
• long needle (darning needle) for basting and basting thread
• quilting needles (size you normally use)
• white quilting thread (I recommend YLI Select thread) but you can use any thread you like
• quilting hoop
• 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" masking tape or/and transparent ruler and lead pencil
• tapestry needle no. 18
• 4-ply acrylic (synthetic) yarns, the inexpensive kind you would use to knit afghans with.

 

Optional

• an embroidery hoop
• bottle of Fray Check™
• very small lace crochet hook

Do not hesitate to email me at housefiber@alltel.net if you have any question or concern about supplies.

Detail

OUTLINE

Lesson One

• tracing the appliqué designs
• the appliqué stitch
• three different appliqué techniques 
  • Hawaiian style
  • Celtic
  • regular needleturn

Lesson Two

• tracing the quilting and embroidery designs
• how to do the following embroidery stitches:
  • stem stitch
  • French knots
  • needle lace
  • chain stitch
  • shi sha mirrors
  • lazy daisies
  • beads
  • blanket stitch
  • feather stitch

Lesson Three

Quilting the designs and the center of the quilt. The lesson does not include instructions on how to make a quilting stitch, however a detailed description of why some tools and material work best is included because it may contribute to improve the quality and ease of your stitching.

Lesson Four

Trapunto

• description of material and tools used
• how to proceed to trapunto the designs

Lesson Five

• background quilting
• detailed instructions on binding

Since the embroidery needs to be finished before you quilt, and the designs have to be quilted before you can trapunto them, extra weeks are provided between lessons.  We suggest that you work on completing one quarter of the appliqué so that you can move on to the embroidery.

Lessons One and Two have special pages for left-handed quilters.  Specific left-handed instructions are enclosed in brackets in the remaining lessons.

You may check the Class Supply Glossary in the Library for generic descriptions of products that may be sold under various names in different countries. 

If you have trouble finding your supplies locally in the US, many of our items are available online at Batiks Etcetera & Sew What Fabrics.  International students can check our Class Supply Sources.