I temporarily got excited when I thought that maybe I could do this with some batik I've been collecting for a bed quilt..... but then it dawned on me that it probably won't work when you just have some fq's here and a bit of yardage there.... you pretty much have to have a good amt/same amt of each different fabric, right?

Tina, I'm glad you asked. I'd been wondering, too!
Barb ... thanks for taking the time to do such a great detailed explanation. I am now thinking I may try one ... they really do look hard.

Sharon

Yes, you would need a good amount of fabric to make a bed sized quilt. However, FQs are great if you want to start with something simple, like a table topper.

I do the tube method. It is actually pretty easy. Once you make your sub-cuts, you sew the top and bottom fabric together, which forms the "tube." Then you decide on which color you want to go at the top and simply unpick the seamline at that point. As you move the next strip (which is sewn into a tube) in, decide if you want the color in strip #1 to go up or down a step in the second strip and then unpick the appropriate seam. I hope this makes some sense!

The bargello is one of the first quilts I ever made and it's one of the few patterns I have made more then once. Every few years I have to go back and make a new one. It is one of those patterns that sounds & looks more complicated then it really is. And the finished quilt always looks stunning. :D

that's what I need to do.

You could do a small quilt using the tube method, or by making the strip panels of some sets (the ones that you will cut the widest strips from.
I never use fat quarters, so it is hard for me to visualize how many strip you could get from one of the. you might want to through in a piece larger that a half yard and use that fabric twice in the color scheme.
If I can get this to work, I'll show a pic of a smaill bargello wall quilt I made

thanks for explaining the bargello technique. There have been some lovely bargellos posted and i have been wondering how to go about it for a while.
My question though is, on some of the bargellos posted it looks like they have cut their strips narrower in parts and I like the look of that. Would you gradually narrow the strips or would you do most say 2 ins wide and then only do a few rows where they get narrower. i dont know if i am explaining this real well but I hope you understand.

It's not that you aren't explaining it well, my brain just can't visualize it very well. I'd love to actually watch it done.

On a big quilt I use 2 1/2 in strips. and do the sub cuts starting at 3 1/2 then 3 and keep decreasing the size until I get the 1 in.
When you want to make a very steep valley with the colors you could go with the 1 in pieces three time, then start moving the color up with a coupl1 one inch cuts, then start adding 1/2 to each of the cuts.

Draw it out on paper...you don't have to color all the litted spaces, you can see a pattern forming. Just work on the design on paper until you get a pleasing look.

Bargello was originally a needle point design, then it was adapted to quilting.

It's done using strips in various widths. The one I made had strips from 3/4 of an inch up to 1 3/4 of an inch. The narrow strips give it the curve effect in the design.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-2806-1.htm

I did a class in bargello a few years ago and we had to bring about 12 different coloured materials that went with each other that were half a metre each... ranging from dark to light.... there had to be at least two light... pity you couldn't see somebody make one in class or maybe you have a friend who could show you... yes I did the tube thing too... it is not hard but does look it... would love to do another... the shopkeeper where you buy the materials might be able to show you if she is not busy !!! You have to be very particular in the cutting and remember before you cut you straighten the edge of the material by cutting, then put the ruler over the cut to the width you want it, remembering that you have to check two sides to see if they are on the straight of the ruler... it won't work if the cutting isn't right.... "I know"... I wasted some of mine but the teacher came along at the right time before I went further... yes, the cutting starts at 1 inch, then one and a half (or quarter) and so on up to about 2 inches... please have instructions and pictures from a book before you tackle this task otherwise you will waste your material as it can't be used for anything else...