''Trapunto,'' from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for ''"to quilt,"'' is a method of quilting that is also called "stuffed technique." A puffy, decorative feature, trapunto utilizes at least two layers, the underside of which is slit and padded, producing a raised surface on the quilt.

History

The style originated in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

before the 14th century.Art:Quilts and Quilters:Techniques:Trapunto
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Technique

Trapunto is often confused with the relatively similar techniques used in making traditional whole cloth

Provençal quilts The term Provençal quilting, also known as boutis, refers to the wholecloth quilts done using a stuffing technique traditionally made in the South of France from the 17th century onwards. Boutis is a Provençal dialect, Provençal word meaning 'st ...

that were developed from the 17th century onwards in France.

Earliest

One of the earliest surviving examples of trapunto quilting is the

Tristan Quilt The Tristan Quilt, sometimes called the Tristan and Isolde Quilt or the Guicciardini Quilt, is one of the earliest surviving quilts in the world.Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, a linen quilt representing scenes from the story of ''

Tristan and Isolde Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

'' which was made in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

during the second half of the 13th century.The Tristan Quilt
in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Accessed 5-2-2010 Another piece of the Tristan Quilt, thought to be from a pair to the V. & A.'s example, is in the

Bargello The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. Terminology The word ''bargello'' appears ...

, an art museum in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Modern

The technique was used for the inner-tunic collars worn in Starfleet uniforms from '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.'' As of the 1980s, functional trapunto machines were rare, and the specialized needles which they employed were even rarer.

References

Quilting {{textile-arts-stub