Sharonquilts

I love to pick out fabrics, but admit it is exhausting sometimes. I plan to strike out tomorrow because I'm sure I will have to shop at more than one store to find everything ... unless I drive to a really large store about an hour away - which may be the best thing to do.

Thanks to all of you for your input and encouragement. I will keep you posted on my progress.

sewgranny1

Sharon, The two things that helped me the most was a piece of paper with fabric swatches in numbered order on the paper (see pic) and I quickly realized I was going to get lost if I didn't have a way to keep track of my progress so I copied the pattern and marked each column with a highlighter as I finished them so I knew what was finished. Hope this helps.

Sharonquilts

Great idea, SewGranny1. Thanks for sharing ... and I love your fabrics.

My DSIL and I drove to a large fabric store about 45 mins. to 1 hr. away and searched for fabrics over 2.5 hrs. Here is what we have so far (still need 5 more fabrics in the blue/acqua or turquoise group). We ran out of options, were tired (and I think going cross eyed - HA) so we stopped for the day. You will notice I veered off from the colors in the photo I posted earlier. We weren't finding a color combo that worked in the darker blues. I guess I will hit the road tomorrow and check out a few more stores for the other 5 I need.

I think I still need a darker fabric in the blue stack. I am open to suggestions/corrections on what I've selected so far if you want to share! Thank you for looking.

Edit: In the brown/beige row, the last 2 fabrics don't show well in the photo. Next to last pc is a beige w/white & beige marks and the last pc is a tone-on-tone white (not solid color).

Jeanne S

I like your color theme, and the fabrics are lovely! I am a bit concerned that the middle one in the second row of blues is more sandy colored than blue--I would hesitate to use it in the row of blues. Hopefully some who have real experience with bargellos will give you their thoughts too!!

sewgranny1

Thank you Sharon! I'm no expert as the Surf Song bargello was the fourth quilt I've made. It took me a while to put the fabrics together--there are a lot of ideas and helpful tips that I found in this forum by conducting a search in posts just using the word bargello--found lots of posts that helped me with my quilt. Here's a picture (if I uploaded correctly) of my quilt right before I took it to the long arm quilter so U can see how the fabrics came together.

Sharonquilts

Jeanne S, yes I'm not sure that middle fabric in the blues is going to work either. But my DSIL and I really liked it so for only 1/2 a yard we decided to get it. Can always put it in my stash.

Sewgranny1, your quilt is lovely. What color is the darkest color in the acqua/turquoise section? I'm needing a darker color like that to go with mine. Thanks for sharing! Also, any ideas on how you will have yours quilted? I will probably do my own quilting on my DSM. My FMQ isn't good enough. Thought about echo quilting long curvy lines on the angle of the color waves but I am open to suggestions from anyone.

ManiacQuilter2

Do you have a design wall or anyplace you can hang the fabrics?? That is how I like the view my fabrics before I begin sewing the strips. Al;so if on your computer you can scan the fabric and print out the photo in black and white, that will tell you if you have the fabric in the correct shading order. Just try to get light to dark. Since I was working with shades of the color wheel, mine is not perfect going from light to dark. Check out the free pattern from Northcott called Serenity. You can have a few not in shade order. Hope this helps.

Here are some examples of the view my strips before I pieced the quilt. I am sewing the binding to the back. I have to get this finish for a quilt show my quilting group is having in May.

Sharonquilts

I really don't have a large space for a design wall in the room I sew in. However, I'm sure I can figure out someway to hang the strips, even if it is on the side-by-side closet doors (which really isn't ideal but better than nothing). I did use the camera on my iPhone while in the store to look at the fabrics in black & white which helped. I have a feeling I may be replacing a few fabrics when I shop for the remaining 5. Thanks for the suggestions.

Love the colors you are using.

sewgranny1

Sharon, I believe you are asking about number 8 as the darkest color--right? If yes, i bought it at Joann fabrics and it's called "Keepsake Calico fabric-Text with metallic turquoise". I had this one quilted with a large meander because I didn't want to detract from the quilt pattern. Here's the link for the fabric that is in stock at our local store--hope this helps
http://www.joann.com/keepsake-calico...eepsake+Calico

Sewnoma

I love bargellos! This is a quilt where having a big stash is great, because you can spend a lot of time finding juuuust the right fabrics. I have to lay them out and live with them a few days before I'm sure if they're right or not. I also always end up buying a bunch more fabric, some of which makes it into the quilt, some of which goes into the stash.

Black & white photos on your camera/phone are a HUGE help for seeing if you've got your values right.

Pressing the seams of your initial strata in alternating directions really helps too, that way when you offset the rows, you can lock the seams and help keep yourself nice and square.

Once I have my colors figured out, I take small scraps of each and sew them down to a long scrap in proper order, so I have a "story board" showing what order the colors go in. I tape that to the wall next to my machine so I can double-check myself as I go.