A few days ago I was scrolling thru some YouTube videos and came upon this one from Deb Tucker. She goes even further in the quest for straight seams…..
I really like Deb Tucker of Studio 180 Designs. She has some fantastic rulers and techniques!! You might check out her website for more!
In this blog, I post 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.
In this blog, I post 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.
Yesterday we took a break as I celebrated my 14th Blogoversary!!!
Today, let’s get the quilting done on this challenge!!
The first step was to follow the ups and downs of the bargello and divide the quilt into three sections…..
Much like the design for the piecing, I wanted to make the darker, bottom portion really austere and then have it become more fun as it moved to the top.
So, I started with 1/2-inch spaced straight lines…….
In the next section, I kept the lines spaced at 1/2-inch but made them wiggly and used a black & white variegated thread….
I wasn’t super happy with how it looked when the white thread had to travel along the already stitched black thread…..
But I quickly fixed that using a Fabrico Marker…..
That looks so much better!!
In the next section, I decided to quilt vines (which are pretty hard to see)….
As I rose further into the “fun” section, I debated about which flower meander to use…..
Of course, the obvious answer was BOTH….
So, I combined the two designs. This photo is actually from the back but you can see better……
I outlined the flowers and added some details to the petals….
….and finished off with a paisley meander between the flowers…..
I had a leftover strata strip and, knowing that I would NEVER use it in another project, I added it to the back…..
Here is the finished quilt……
“Flowers Will Bloom Again”
It definitely reminds me that we have been through some hard times but that, in the end, the flowers will always bloom and life will be good!!!
In this blog, I post 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.
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.
In this blog, I post 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.
Today I want to backtrack and tell you about the design process for this quilt!!
My guild issued a challenge back in June for a Bargello quilt…..easy enough!! BUT, we had to make it remembering our feelings in March of 2020…..you remember those day days don’t you?
As I thought back, I remembered the feelings of inadequacy as I tried to help my clients figure out how to keep their businesses open. I was worried for them, my kids and their jobs, and my immuno-compromised husband!!
I WAS A MESS!!!!
I sat down with a drawing pad and started planning!! My original idea was to make a bunch of small bargello pieces and have them mixed together in one quilt…..
Then I thought about making one with only black, grey, white, and lime (puke) green…..
….or maybe make one and cut it up into pieces…..
The problem was this…..
Years ago I made a challenge quilt based on a “polka dot theme”. Since it kept being called the “poke-a-dot” challenge, I made this quilt……
“Pokka Dot….Win a Prize”
While it was a fun quilt, it has never hung on a wall. It just sits in my quilt closet!!
I didn’t want that to happen with this quilt. I wanted something that I could proudly hang on the wall and enjoy!!!
So it was back to the drawing board.
I thought back to the idea of using black fabrics and a small trickle of inspiration started to happen.
What if I start with black fabrics, and slowly move into bright colors??
I pulled out my 2.5-inch black strips…..
…..and started playing!!!
Maybe something like this……
….or maybe this…..
Before I started sewing, I decided that the bottom black fabric needed to be a thicker strip and I also wanted a LOT of the yellow/orange floral at the top.
The final strata looked like this…..
I saw that the black fabrics at the bottom were reminiscent of the early months of Covid. Then there was a happier time when the vaccine came out, but the Corona variant moved us back to black!! Then, earlier this year things started to get brighter……groups began meeting again, masks were removed and life started to return to normal. Now it is almost as if Covid didn’t happen!!!
So, the Strata is prepared……come back tomorrow for the slicing and sewing!!
