Bargello Homework, Take 3?

Yippee! I finally finished ironing and cutting today. I actually used a whole can of starch just on these 20 yards of fabric. I have NEVER emptied a whole can of starch, EVER.

Here are all the fabrics cut and lined up for inspection.

The completed fabric map.

Now for the next tedious step in the bargello quilt making process... sewing together the strips 1) in order and 2) with a scant 1/4 inch seam. As with any quilt, a tiny bit off here and there can make a big difference (and your life a living hell), especially in a quilt this complex. It's quite nerve racking but a welcomed challenge. I can already see my quilt coming together and I am in love with the colors. Stay tuned!

Iron, fold and cut

More Bargello Quilt Class Homework

Ironing: I iron the wrong side of the fabric to avoid staining with the spray starch, which I never use but was recommended by the instructor.

Folding: Selvages together.

Squaring up the fabric: I hate doing this because you realize how poorly the fabric is cut from the bolt.

Cutting: 2.5 inch strips x WOF

Staying organized: I am using binder clips to hold all like strips and the label together.

Fabric scrap: trimmed to 1/2 inch for use in my fabric map.

My Fabric Map (in progress)

UFO converted

Last night when I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about what to do with this UnFinished Object (UFO). It started out as a Joann Fabric's Block of the Month called Nature's Bounty. I never finished it because I ran out of money then the project was discontinued. I believe I started this in 2007 and since I just tucked it away in a scrap box. Below are the 4 blocks I did complete.

Block #1: Pinwheel

Block #2: Laurel and Peony

Block #3: Rail Fence

Block #4: Topiary and Lily

My thought is that I would turn it into a doll or baby quilt for my friend Angela's daughter, Cheyenne who will be 1 year old this year. I know the color and design is not age appropriate but I figured she would appreciate it either way.

Initially, I thought that I would organize it as below with an added border.

While out today, I took the blocks with me to Wal-mart and picked out a medium pink fabric that I intend to use as the border and a dark green fabric for the binding. I did not plan on buying the backing yet as I wasn't sure how big the front would be.

After sitting down with the blocks and looking at their dimensions, I realized that (as a beginner when I started this BOM) there were some inconsistency in the block sizes. Block #3 was almost a whole inch smaller overall than Block #1, when they were suppose to be the same size. If Block #3 had been the correct size, it would have fit around the Block #4/2 as I had planned. Upon inspection, I decided that it was probably an error in cutting and taking the blocks completely apart and putting them together again would not solve the problem.

After much consideration, I determined that it would work best if I break down Block #1 and Block #3 into four blocks and trim them down smaller. Below is what I decided on using all pieces from both Blocks #1 and 3.

I found a scrap of pink fabric in my stash, which I decided to use to fill in the space between the divided blocks along with the green fabric I purchased for the binding. Then pieced it all together, which was a whole lot harder than it sounds as the dimensions of all pieces were different. Below is the final product.

I am debating adding a thin white border around the whole quilt top just to frame the whole she-bang before the binding edge. I decided that the dark green fabric should still be used for the binding. Since I didn't use the pink fabric I purchased for the border, I decided to use it for the backing. I also plan to attach the two left-over blocks (a 9-patch and Topiary applique) from Block #4 and a label block to the bottom Left corner of the backing in a L-shape. For the label block, I am considering doing something unique like a folding envelope similar to the one on Shelley Rodger's website Needlepointers.com. That is a job for tomorrow.

The "Pinking" process

I started working on my Bargello class homework today. Assignment #1: Pinking and prewashing the fabrics.

Pinking refers to the use of pinking shears to trim the raw edge of a piece of fabric. Pinking shears cut a jagged, sawtooth pattern into the fabric, which minimizes fabric fraying or unraveling during washing.

Why is this important? When fabrics unravel, you loose a bit of fabric that would otherwise be usable and oftentimes the unraveled threads get tangled. The tangled pieces can tug (especially in the washer and dryer) causing stretching and distortion of the fabric.



"Pinking" fabric number 6.

Many quilters use a special "wavy" or scalloped blade in their rotary cutter, which is much more efficient than using pinking shears. However, I find that I prefer pinking shears as I feel I have more control over them. It is easy to slip or lose concentration while using a rotary cutter and accidentally cut too much or in the wrong direction. This generally doesn't happen with pinking shears.

I started getting really nervous when I began removing the fabric number labels used to identify where I intend each fabric to fit into the bargello pattern. I didn't want to forget or mis-identify a fabric when I pulled it out of the dryer. It was a lot of work to get the color range set initially and I don't know if I could handle going through that type of headache again. I decided to skip ahead in the instructions a bit and make a fabric map using the slivers of fabric I am cutting off with the pinking shears, just to be safe. Now I feel sufficiently organized, which I am told is essential to the bargello quilt making process. After I square up the fabric for cutting, I will create another fabric map using larger scraps for later use.


My temporary fabric map.

Prewashing the Bargello Fabrics

Part of the homework for my Bargello quilt class is to prewash my fabrics. The instructor recommends prewashing the fabrics in hot water with a product called Retayne. This product "is a color fixative for commerically dyed cotton, linen or rayon fabrics that bleed." It comes in a 4 oz and 16 oz size bottle. The 4 oz. size will treat 24 yards of fabric and since I have 20 fabrics for this quilt, the smaller size should work fine.

I have personally never prewashed my fabrics in hot water or used Retayne. I generally prewash my fabrics in cold water with dye free detergents such as all Free Clear or Dreft. I have only had one fabric bleed (see The Little Gem) so what I have been doing must not be too bad. However, considering the enormous amount of money I have spent on the fabrics for this Bargello quilt... what's another couple of dollars to ensure that I won't ruin my fabrics?

Once I made the decision to follow the instructor's advice, I started searching for this product. I am a bit of a miser so I began looking for the best price on this product. Of course, all the places online with the best prices are SOLD OUT. I started calling around to my LQS's and found that everyone but Patched Works is out of stock. How frustrating... I was just there Sunday for the class and didn't pick up a bottle of Retayne because I wasn't sure that I was going to use it. Now, I have to drive back and it's not exactly close. I guess I will head out there tomorrow afternoon so I can get my fabric prewashed before the weekend, when I hope to get some cutting done.

In the meantime, I will go ahead and pink the edges and sort the fabrics so they will be ready to go into the washing machine as soon as I get my bottle of Retayne.

More Bargello Fabric Pics

In this post, I have included more pictures of the fabrics used and unused in my bargello quilt pattern. As a side-note, Bargello pronounced "BAR-Jello."



These are the two fabric's that I won't be using in the pattern. The teal/purple (right) is the one I hope to use in the boarder.


These are the two unused fabrics as viewed through The Patchwork Place's Ruby Beholder. The Ruby Beholder removes color from fabric and shows only it's value (ie. light-medium-dark). Through this lense, one can see the large contrast between the two values represented in these fabric's values that make them unsuitable for use in THIS quilt pattern.




This is another photo of the fabric's I have chosen for my Bargello quilt that hit the blue-green/blue/blue-violet parts of the color wheel. The yellow sticky notes are my organziational markers. Each fabric is designated 1-20 so that when I go to make my strips, I can keep them in order.




Here's what those same fabric's look like through the Ruby Beholder. Notice the slight movement in values. Remember within a given range, your values will change based on the adjacent fabrics.

THE Bargello

I started the Cosmic Twist Bargello quilt class today and WHOA was it chaulked full of great color selection information! Somewhere between value, hue, and tone... my brain started to hurt but two hours later after looking at 10 or so quilts and 60 or so fabrics, it kinda started to make sense.


We spent some time reviewing and critiquing the fabrics people brought as "their" color palete for this quilt. In the previous post, I included a picture of the fabric's I bought. I chose to work in the blue-green/blue/blue-violet portion of the color wheel. Only one of the fabrics I included in that picture didn't make it in my bargello pattern. There were two problems with it; first, it's values were too drastic (ie. light AND dark Vs. light OR dark) and second, the print was too large to get both of the colors (purple and teal) in each square. I plan to use it for/in the border. I had also purchased an additional two fabric's from Joann Fabrics, only one of which I ended up including in the bargello pattern. The one I am not using had the same issues as the other unused fabric. But I LOVE the color so it might be the inspiration for a different quilt in the future.


After evaluating what we had... we went into the quilt store portion of the building and literally took over the floor. Seriously, we laid out the fabrics we already had that we would be using and then pulled literally every bolt of fabric off the shelves that fit in our tone and value range. I think I personally pulled about 45 bolts off the shelves (in addition to the 7 I already had) to play with and in the end, we only need 20 different fabrics for the pattern.


The instructor came by to each of us and showed us how to seperate the values then would leave for us to work on it on our own for awhile. Then, she'd come back and help us pare down what we had to fit into our tone ranges and finally into the bargello pattern. The last 3 hours of the class were reserved for this part of the process and it took over 4 hours. It's a very intense process but I learned a LOT. This is what I ended up with.

For the next class, we are suppose to 1) wash the fabrics, 2) cut the fabrics into strips and 3) join the fabrics in order 1-20. It doesn't sound hard, just time consuming because there are 20 different fabrics to work with and keep organzied. I am excited with my color choices and can't wait to see how they will all work together.


I really enjoyed the other ladies in my class today. I felt like for the first time, I wasn't the "younger" quilter even though I was the youngest. Truth be told, I have about 5 years experience on all but one of the four other quilters. My opinions and questions were really valued and it made a huge difference in how I felt about the class. I really look forward to the next day of class, which sadly is not for another month. But at least I will have plenty of time to get my "homework" done.