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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Pieced with Love

The pieced competition at the International Quilt Festival has always been one of my favorites. I am thoroughly amazed at the creativity and accuracy that these quilts exhibit!

Audrey Esarey got my viewing off to a good start with her Mobius quilt….

“Mobius Radial No. 2

This is one of those quilts that will stay in my mind for a long time!!

This quilt from Beth Nufer and Clem Buzick was made with Dupioni silk…..

“Sphere”

Don’t you think that would be REALLY hard to piece and applique??

The Blue-Ribbon went to Amy Pabst for this beauty…..

“Heat Lightning”

This is another example of her “Micro-piecing” technique that I talked about a few days back. Check out this post for more examples of her technique.

I especially like the border treatment…..

This beauty from Setsuko Oki was hand pieced and quilted!!

“Symphony of Light and Breeze”

I always tip my hat to handwork artists. It is something that I do not have the patience for!!

This quilt from Sarah Ann Smith is simple but so effective…..

“Phlamingo, Some Assembly Required”

It shows a great usage of the “Crossed Canoes” block and I love the small amount of “Big Stitch” quilting that she added….

Second place was awarded to Ruth Ohol for this ACCURATE quilt….

“Memories From Hotel Fahey”

I think that I would have gone crazy trying to piece that border!!

In her artist statement, Paula Doyle said that she was trying to create a quilt with a fresh and contemporary feeling. I would say that she accomplished that…..

“Yukata Bee Quilting”

Nancy Goodman scored a Third-place ribbon for this fun quilt….

“Alhambra at Sunset”

My mind doesn’t do well with Improv piecing, but Nancy’s sure does!!

Being a SUPER FAN of Sunflowers, this quilt from Luz Seidensticker definitely caught my eye…..

“The Troubadour”

Linda and I both loved the dimension that she presented with these upturned flowers….

It is so much more effective than just having all of the flowers facing forward!!

The name of this quilt is “The Troubadour” and after I read that I had to go back and figure out why. The answer came in two paper-pieced birds….

I hope that you are enjoying these impromptu quilt shows!! Come back tomorrow for a showing of various miscellaneous quilts that caught my fancy!!!

A Halloween Treat!!!

Today you get a double treat…..a quilt AND a poem!!!

Click here to learn more about this quilt

…..and a favorite poem from Jack Pelutsky…..

Star Explosion Top is off the to-do list

Yesterday, I posted about the last stretch of piecing for the center of the Star Explosion top, leaving it at this point…..

Now I needed to add some corners to the top but REMEMBER that the background fabric was in short supply!!

I decided to map it out before I started cutting fabric….

….and then made a “template” for the corner…..

Using this pattern I was able to cut one large rectangle and then split it into two triangles for each corner!!

WITH SOME FABRIC LEFT OVER!!

So now the top is finished……

…and I a SUPER happy with it!!

Keep coming back as I baste and quilt this beauty!!!

Star Explosion…the next chapter

Over the last 2 months, you have seen bits and pieces of my latest quilt called “Star Explosion”. When I last posted explicitly about the quilt, it was at this stage……

….and I had run out of cream-colored fabric!! I figured I needed 3 more yards and was starting to panic when I couldn’t find more. Finally, I found one store with 1-3/4 yards and another with 1-1/4 yards. THAT was a relief!!!!

Once I had the fabric in hand, it was time to decide where the quilt was headed next!!!

I felt that I needed to pull some of the “duller” colors in the center star to the outside of the quilt so I started playing with possibilities……

Maybe cubes…..

……or stripes……

Definitely NOT!!!

What about some smaller stars…..

YEP….that is where I am heading!!

My first thought was exactly HOW I was going to do all of the inset seams where the star meets the background, but I finally realized that I could piece the star first…..