I did this on a quilt several years ago. It sort of depends on how fat you want them to be. If you just want a subtle puff, cut a circle of batting just a smidge smaller than the berry and hold it under the fabric as you sew it in place. If you want really fat berries, you can sort of pull some batting apart, sew about 3/4 of the way around the berries then stuff them as full as you wish before sewing them down the rest of the way.

Annie

Annie,
Thanks for the tips. I would like really fat berries. I have some polyester stuffing. I wonder if this would work for stuffing the berries?

I love the second method you posted- I was trying to figure out how to do this without having to cut through to the back.

Jen

I think poly would work, but one thing about poly is that it tends to compress over time. If it's a wall hanging, I think I'd use poly, if it's going on a bed and will be washed more frequently, then I'd use cotton and stuff them very firmly.

Annie

Jen, I made a bunch on a project started in a class with Anita Shackleford. Her method was to trace a circle around a nickel on our berry fabric, cut out the circle, and do a small running stitch about 1/8" in from the edge. Then you draw it up a bit and use a toothpick to put in just a little tuft of batting, pull it up a bit more, stuff a bit more, then before you pull it all the way closed you stuff as full as you like. Take a few stitches across the opening to anchor it, then sew it to the background. Another neat thing she showed us was right before you do the closing stitches, poke the needle out the top of the berry and back in a couple of threads away, then tug on it a little and do the closing stitches. That makes a little dent in the end of the berry that looks very realistic.

Here's a link to a photo of it...not sure how well you can see the berries.

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful:

All right ladies, I am going to list these hints on my blog so it can help some other quilters out!