Bargello Quilts

Have you ever made a bargello quilt? It is one of those quilts that look much more complicated than they are. I thought I would share my experience in stitching up this recent Quilt of Valour.

My colour inspiration was an image of the Gatineau hills dressed in their autumn colours. (My picture is of a prairie garden; I couldn’t find my photo of Gatineau.) I looked for a balance of golds, browns, greens and burgundies in a variety of values. I like using pictures as a starting place for colour combinations — think forest streams (greens and blues), ocean waves (full range of blues), fields of wheat — you get the idea. To create this top I selected 11 colours and cut six 2 1/2 inch (width of fabric) strips of each. You will be left with part of a colour run, but that could be the border of your next quilt.

After laying out the sequence of colours I stitched them together into six sets of the 11 colours, then stitched three sets together into a full colour run of 33 strips. To get a full width, I needed two colour runs of 33. Press as you go, alternating the direction of pressing.

The next step seems a little baffling, but trust me, it works. Stitch the first strip of your 33-strip set to the last strip of the 33-strip set to create a tube — you can see my first tube hanging off the end of the ironing board. Then, cut your colour-run-tube into strips. I started with three one-inch strips, two 1 1/2 inch strips, four two-inch strips, and four 2 1/2 inch strips. The narrower your strip, the steeper the curve will be, the wider the strip the gentler the curve will be.

With your first tube (I started with the skinniest), undo the stitching between your first and last block, and place the full length on your design wall. (If you don’t have a design wall, a design bed that does not get slept in will do.) Take your second strip (in my case, another skinny), and open the seam between the last and second-last block, and lay that beside the first strip. (That blurry picture is supposed to show how you open the seams — really? you haven’t unstitched a seam before?) If you look at the pictures of the initial design, you will see the bright green square as my ‘block one’ on the centre strip, that bright green square drops down one block on either side, drops one step further on either side and so on.

I started by cutting a dozen or so strip units, positioning them on the wall, and then adding a few more, getting wider or narrower . You can also move the curve back up. When my green got about 9 blocks down, I reversed the direction, took it up to the top and then back down a little.

With all the colours in my top, I found it a little on the busy side; framing it with pale skinny border and a wider darker border calmed down the effect and providing a consistency. Now I have to figure out how I want to quilt it — any suggestions?

Are you intrigued? Do you think you might try out your own bargello? My quilt top finished at 56″ x 74″ and I have set aside the fabric for a piped binding.

Happy Stitching

Longarmers for hire:

Christine: GREELYQUILTER@GMAIL.COM

Heather:  heather.ann.derksen@gmail.com/www.redwillowquilts.ca

Upcoming Events:

National Sew-Day — February 6, 2021 — stay tuned, safety measures in place!

Presentation for a WWII Vet

On Saturday October 31, Trooper (Ret’d) Don White received his Quilt of Valour. Mr White enlisted in 1942, at the age of 18. He served with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and participated in the Liberation of Holland. He remembers that when the Dutch flags went up 75 years ago they had orange streamers hanging over them and a little girl gave Don a streamer to thank him. That streamer is now in the museum at RCD’s in Petawawa and the orange trim on the quilt reminded him of that.

The presentation was organized by his daughter as a surprise and it was held in the Oshawa Military Museum where Mr White continues to volunteer. The quilt was made by Suzanne Elder, carefully hand-stitched. The presentation was done by Camilla Gallibois. This blog platform won’t allow for the posting of a video, but it was uploaded onto Facebook if you want to check it out. Camilla describes Mr White as a person short of stature with a great big smile. It certainly brightened his day to receive this special gift.

While I have your attention, Ecoequitable is a local organization who helps new immigrants by teaching sewing skills. They receive lots of fabric donations to help them with their work. Recently, they received 270 meters of quality quilting fabric and they are offering it for sale at $8/meter. You can book an appointment on their website at www.ecoequitable.ca to shop.   EE is open Monday, Wed, Thursday from 10 – 2.    Cotton is in the front office so do not go up to the boutique.   If you are looking to add to your stash, here is an opportunity for a bargain.