Do you have a pattern or basic instructions you would like to share with a beginner Bargello Quilter? If so, this is the place to do it......
I just wanted to let any beginner know that you can learn how to do bargello quilts at Quilt University online.
As a beginner I would love some tips, advice, instructions! Would anyone like to share?
Mooresville, NC
Hi Joy,
When you are making the panels that you use to make your design, sew the strips together in pairs. Press them all in the same direction. Sew the pairs together in the opposite direction so that you don't have a big rainbow and press them in the opposite direction so that the seams "next" together when making the design. When making the design, don't cut the strips more than 1/4" wider than the preceeding one. That keeps the design flowing. Hopefully this will get you started. Oops, guess that you have to select fabric first. Make sure that it steps in value. Solids sometimes look like a headlight so I try to use patterned pieces. Surely others might have other things that would help. I tell students that there is no right way, just what works best for you. If you want to see my latest one, go to www.haletomaterialgirlsnh.blogspot.com Gail in NH
Gail your Bargello is gorgeous! Thank you very much for the tips! I must admit I have a hard time with color value so I think I'm going to try to purchase a book I found about color value in a Bargello before I begin. Making my double wedding ring didn't intimidate me as much as this quilt does!
And I must say I wouldn't mind coming to one of your retreats someday! That has always been one of my "quilty dreams." I can't even imagine how wonderful it would be to quilt for days without the interruption of kids, dogs, husband, in-laws, cooking, cleaning....etc!
Have a story to tell about the bargello that you saw on my blog site. We will be at our location in a couple of weeks. I was making sure that they had our design walls available so I contacted the group sales person that I always deal with to explain that we would need the walls this time as we were working with a quilt that would need them. I sent her to our blog site as I did you so that she could see the quilt. She responded that it was an amazing "bordello". We all got a good laugh out of it. In fact one of the "campers" said that she knew that the ski area (where we have our retreat) had to close early, but were we expected to raise money for them!! I had some Mounlin rouge fabric that has been aging for years so have now made a "bordello" quilt for her. She doesn't know it yet, but all of the management staff will be there when we present her with the quilt on the 23rd. We are all looking forward to giving her the quilt for all the fun that her comment has given us. Gail in NH
Gail, that quilt is gorgeous! I've really been wanting to try a Bargello quilt. I keep hearing that they are not as hard as they look, but I'm still learning the basics.
One day....
Susan
My husband is an artist and when I told him I was having trouble with getting the colors right, he took me to Texas Art Supply. He got me an artists color wheel. Check out all the different ones they have. Mine displays color values and is indispensible for choosing fabrics to create smooth color transitions. It really helps me choose fabrics.
Thanks so much for the help Susan! I will look into that ASAP! I am hoping it will get me over my 'color' fears so I can start this quilt instead of just staring at the pattern and my fabric!
Joy, I recently did a class with Jinny Beyer when she was in Melbourne for AQC, we did diamonds and colour. I ended up purchasing her fabric swatches.
It has 150 pieces of fabric in graduated colours that you can fan out or hid to check things out. I jotted down an idea for a quilt the other day, got out the swatches and wrote down the numbers off the back so that when in the distant future I get around to making it I'll know the colours I was thinking of at the time. I've also used paint swatches from the hardware store to give me some sort of idea. The JB was expensive at A$ 75, but I think it will pay for itself in the long run. I also think that seeing actual fabric is easier than a printed colour. Hope this gives you a few more ideas
Joy in Melbourne
Even more so than in most quilt piecing it is very important that you have the tension balanced between your top and bottom threads so your strips set do not bow. It is just as important as sewing every other row in the opposite direction. The clearest directions I found on how to adjust your thread tension can be found at Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 http://www.superiorthreads.com/education/tension/thread-tug-of-war-how-tension-works
Happy quilting
Denise Smart