This evening I took a deep breath and started cutting some rows. I've stitched the first 3 together (the center and two adjacent rows) for the top half, and I think it's off to a good start. This quilt is going to be quite large! I knew that, but it's different to see it! I'm going to push so much fabric through my machine :)

Using the method outlined in the book, I've got the row seams pressed in opposite directions for every other row, which means that they "nest" when you're sewing the long strip of patches together and makes it easy to match up the seams. In the close-ups, you can see how well that's worked! Crispy clean corners :D

hi thee to thy sewing machine!! GO, go -- go sew!! I cannot *wait* to see more!! it is just incredible . . great job!!

More rows! It's so exciting to watch it grow. This is just the top half. Once I have all the rows for this half I'll do the bottom half, then they get sewn together to finish the top. This makes 9 rows out of 41 (I think). Sorry the picture's a little blurry, I had to stand on my stool to get it all in the shot :o

Alright! Status update. I've now pieced 23 rows of the top half of the quilt top. It gets prettier by the row :) It's laying over another quilt in the photo, so disregard the edges that don't belong.

Your quilt is coming along beautifully ! When ever I get to this point in a bargello its hard to stop sewing as it just gets better with each row.

Wow, that is going to be one gorgeous quilt! I want to make one sometime too, just have to get some free time.

Lillie: Thank you for introducing this, every time somebody does something like this I learn so much. For sure if I ever get the courage to try a bargello I will ask for input from the experts. Lillie, love your colors, I have a river close by where I walk my dog. Have been looking at the variation of colors, your choices really capture what I am seeing.

Thank you so much! I think it's going to look like the water is churning and flowing when it's all done. Just enough white in there to look like waves breaking or a river rippling. I'm glad it looks like water to you, too!

It has been a while since my last post, so I just wanted to drop in with a status update. I've almost got the top half done, only 5 more rows to go. I'm hoping to get it done this weekend, and then I'll post a picture. After that, I've got the other bottom half to do, which is basically the same. Bottom half should go much quicker. Knock on wood, I haven't had to rip a seam yet!

Top half of the quilt top is finished! You can't see it all in this photo, because I had to drape some over the end of the bed, but I think it's looking pretty good! The light's a little harsh, so some of the darker colors are washed out, but you can see the detail pretty well. Looks good to me! I'll start the bottom half this week, and hopefully it will go faster than the top :)