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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In this blog, I post DAILY stories about creativity, techniques, tools of the trade, and lots more about the wonderful art of quilting. If you are enjoying these posts, please subscribe to be notified of each new blog as it becomes available.

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