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.

The next big thing.

I got the call... my machine is ready. What an amazing turn around time! Special thanks to Sew n' Save in Brookfield, WI. I will go pick it up tomorrow.

I have been toting the gift card my husband gave me for Mother's Day last year around and finally decided to use it. I signed up for a Bargello class at my LQS (Patched Works). It starts on my birthday. That is one amazing gift. I never thought I would find the opportunity to take a quilting class as a amazing gift but when you never get any time to do what you want to, it is AMAZING when you do. The project is the Cosmic Twist quilt found in Twist-and-Turn Bargello Quilts by Eileen Wright.

I went in to Patched Works today to get some fabrics for the class. The instructions say to bring your stash but I don't actually have one so I have to purchase everything. I found 7 of the 20 fabrics that I will need. The fabric for this class is going to cost me a small fortune but I have never made a quilt just for myself, so I am feeling slightly vindicated.

I searched the Internet for color combinations used in bargello's that I like. I really love the purple/teal combinations I have seen so that is where I started.

The Machine

I dropped off my sewing machine yesterday to find out what the deal is. The problem would not consistantly reproduce itself. The metal piece that the thread keeps getting tied around is the bottom thread cutter. I left it to be cleaned and adjusted and hopefully that will solve the problem. Now I am just waiting....not on pins and needles because they're in the shop with my machine. Just waiting.

The Little Rocketeer

Since my sewing machine is inoperable and I found myself still motivated... I decided to start planning the quilt I intend to make for Dyson. I picked out the pattern and purchased the fabric for this quilt months ago. Because I am always SO organized (HA,HA!) I still needed to sit down to figure out what fabric goes where. Of course, I did this initially but never wrote it down anywhere and needed to figure it all out again.

The pattern I chose for Dyson's quilt is "Little Rocketeer" from McCall's Quick Quilts, July 2009. It took me close to an hour to figure out which fabric's I intended to use where in the quilt since the color scheme was a little different.



According to my receipt, I purchased three cuts of the galaxy print fabric for a total of 4.75 yards (1.75 yds, 1.00 yds and 2 yds). When I initially looked at the receipt, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out why I purchased only 4.75 yds when I was going to need a total of 6 yards (1 yd for the blocks and 5 yards for the backing). Well after pulling out the tape measure, I discovered that I clearly have more than the needed 6 yards. Joann's messed up and in my favor for the first time ever!!!

I built the color scheme off of the galaxy print using solids, batiks and tone-on-tone prints to highlight the main print. I decided to change the border to a starry sky. Within that border, I plan to applique two space ships at opposite ends of the quilt and use machine quilting in the border to make them fly.



Galaxy Print (Main Block and Backing)



Dark Blue Batik (Four Patch Block)



Medium Red Batik (Four Patch Block)



Orange Tone-On-Tone Print (Inner Border)



Medium Blue Print (Outer Border)

The Little Gem Derailed

I had so much motivation today to work on The Little Gem quilt. Got my sewing machine out, carried it and all the paraphernalia upstairs, set everything up and then guess what?! The sewing machine tried to eat a hole in the quilt!!! Once I finally got all the strains snipped without cutting a bigger hole in the quilt, I spent the next 30 minutes disassembling, testing and reassembling my sewing machine. Nothing helped, there is something seriously wrong that is causing my top thread to get tied around the bobbin spinney thing.

Very deflated, I packed that puppy back downstairs and looked up the nearest Brother Authorized Service Center. There is one just 9 miles away (Sew 'n Save, Brookfield, WI) and they have a service person there Monday-Friday AND offer free diagnostics. I will take it in Monday to see what needs to be done. What peeves me the most about this situation is I still have another 2 years of service warranty on the machine at Quality Sewing & Vacuum in Seattle that would make this whole "fix" free. But the warranty is not a Brother warranty and therefore not transferable to other non-Sewing and Vach stores :(

The good news is while taking everything apart, I found a portion of a needle I don't recall breaking, which ironically was not the problem.

UFO Log

I decided that making a log of my UFOs would motivate me... so here it is. Unfortuantly, looking at all the work I have ahead of me is more depressing than motivating :(


Ispy Fabric Swap


Panel Baby Quilt


Hand Quilting Project


Endless Stars


My 1st Class Wallhanging


Log Cabin Star-King Sized

Donation Quilt

Dan's Airplane Quilt

A's Quilt

Scrappy Happy

Country Americana

Christmas Lone Star

Galaxy Quest BOM

Missing UFOs:

Black, White and Bright Block Swap

Red, White and Blue Block Swap

Dyson's Rocket Quilt