The specialised quilting technique of padding quilt designs has origins in both Italy and France. Flowers or common motifs are quilted and padded by the insertion of quilting wool or cord. It is called Trapunto in Italy and in France this is similar to the French technique of Piqué Cordé. Trapunto is not reversible - the bottom layer is usually cut open or if a muslin base layer is used, prised open, to allow the quilting wool or quilting cotton to be inserted. When the stuffing is complete the piece has another piece of wadding and backing added to it and is quilted further. It is used for making cushions, quilts and wall-hangings.
Provencal Boutis, which is also called Marseilles embroidery, is similar to Trapunto but the background is usually filled with corded channels and the pieces are double-sided.
The kits below are perfect as an introduction to the traditional French techniques of quilting. All the kits have fabric with preprinted designs in a washaway ink.