Bargello building…

Yesterday I talked about the design for my “Covid Bargello” guild challenge.

Today, let’s cut the strata into strips and start piecing!!!

When they cut strips, some people sew the strata into a tube, but I decided instead to simply fold it a couple of times and cut the strips that way…..

I had to think about this a bit since most Bargello quilts wrap around from the top to the bottom and I didn’t want any black at the top or yellow at the bottom.

So, I cut each strip and laid it out as I went. That way I could judge how many steps I could go and still be able to trim a straight edge along the top and bottom.

That sentence probably didn’t make a lot of sense, so let me show you instead…..

I could see that I had a lot of black fabrics to play with. I had plenty of room to trim and still have plenty of black showing.

The same was NOT true of the yellow. In my current configuration, I was going to lose most of the yellow floral and THAT was my favorite part of the quilt!!

So, I went back in and started adding another yellow strip to the top of each of the bargello strips…..

Yes, it was painful and YES, it would have been better if I had made this discovery BEFORE I finished the strata…..

But, there you have it.

I finished cutting everything and got all of the piecing done. Now I realized that it needed something else at the top and what would be better than FLOWERS?

I drew a few out just to see if I liked them……

And then looked for flower patterns to use…..

Next, I had so much fun finding my favorite colors and making nine flowers to add to the top…..

As a final touch, I turned two of the strips upside down and added them to the sides to “border the quilt…..

I truly enjoyed this design process and am happy with the top.

Come back on Sunday and we will get it quilted!!

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