Satisfied only doing a Bargello?
#41
Dina, I just looked at one of the tutorials and think I may try it but I wondered if you have any tips on fabric selections...i saw your brown one and it had great balance and movement too. How many fabrics do you typically work with and do you choose always colors that blend well and flow together or could you get the same "ebb and flow" from high contrast darks (of different colors) with bands of neutrals mixed between? Is there a minimum # of fabrics to make this work and/or a maximum # beyond which it just doesn't work?
How many fabrics you needs sort of depends on the design you want and the size you want. My favorite so far was Surf Song from Eileen Wright's book Twist and Turn Bargello quilts. The book has about ten patterns in it, I think.
I have used a pattern for three of the Bargellos I made, and I made 3 without patterns. Following a pattern is much easier. The main thing I learned about pattern selection though is to ALWAYS use an even number of fabrics. The last one I made has 21 fabrics, and that makes the ironing (ironing seams towards the even numbered strip) very challenging. I am making a mirror image of that quilt ....and it is the brown one....and I will never make one again with an odd number of fabrics.
You should google Bargello quilts and/or go to the Gallery part of the Pictures on this board and look at all of the different fabrics and colors. I think that about anything can be done....and do a search with just Bargello on this board too. You will see fantastic quilts. Bright colors with neutrals in between should work very well too. I particularly like to have a white next to my darkest. Just makes it look good.
I will attach a picture of my first Surf Song. I wanted blue and purple and spent ages selecting my colors. I am very satisfied with it.
Dina
#42
I don't know how to pose this question, but I guess I want to know if anyone else has experienced being stuck on one type of quilt?
I made my first Bargello in November, and I just finished my 5th one. I am going to make a mirror image of that Bargello, but I thought I would "take a break" and sort of relax with a different pattern before I started it. (A Bargello isn't hard, but it is a bit time consuming, I think.)
So I started a Turning Twenty, and I wasn't pleased with it. The pieces just seemed too large. So last night I cut each block into fourths, and now I am playing with those pieces. I still am not satisfied. I will play with it a bit more, and then I am going to put it up if I can't get more satisfied with it. Then I will start the Bargello.
I just don't seem to be interested in anything but a Bargello quilt. I am assuming this will pass, but it didn't between my 4th and 5th. I did the same thing. I messed around with a different quilt pattern and finally abandoned it for the Bargello.
So, have you ever sort of been possessed by one type of quilt design? How long did it possess you? I really really like my Bargello quilts, but surely I am not stuck with only liking them?
Thanks for any insight. (Yeah, I know this isn't really a big problem, but I sort of want to know that I am not alone, that I will get back to enjoying a variety of quilts...)
Dina
I made my first Bargello in November, and I just finished my 5th one. I am going to make a mirror image of that Bargello, but I thought I would "take a break" and sort of relax with a different pattern before I started it. (A Bargello isn't hard, but it is a bit time consuming, I think.)
So I started a Turning Twenty, and I wasn't pleased with it. The pieces just seemed too large. So last night I cut each block into fourths, and now I am playing with those pieces. I still am not satisfied. I will play with it a bit more, and then I am going to put it up if I can't get more satisfied with it. Then I will start the Bargello.
I just don't seem to be interested in anything but a Bargello quilt. I am assuming this will pass, but it didn't between my 4th and 5th. I did the same thing. I messed around with a different quilt pattern and finally abandoned it for the Bargello.
So, have you ever sort of been possessed by one type of quilt design? How long did it possess you? I really really like my Bargello quilts, but surely I am not stuck with only liking them?
Thanks for any insight. (Yeah, I know this isn't really a big problem, but I sort of want to know that I am not alone, that I will get back to enjoying a variety of quilts...)
Dina
#43
Is this normal? Come on, no one has been honest...of course it is not normal!!! Who in their right mind would take perfectly good yardages of fabric (after taking who knows how long debating whether they 'go together' or not), spend hours cutting them into teeny tiny pieces, and more countless hours sewing them back together and then, for pete's sake, consider doing in again, not once, but time after time, year after year. We quilters have a strange malady and the rest of the world is just going to have to accept that this bit of insanity is what keeps us right with the world in other ways. Enjoy whatever obsession you have at the moment. (By the way, the photo you posted of your quilt is lovely! Keep up the good work and don't worry about enjoying the same thing over and over.)
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 451
Dina, thank you for your tips. I did just google bargello quilt images and WOW! some look as though they use different strip sets vs just the same one throughout. very complex they are!! After viewing 15 pages, may i say your brown one appeals to me the most!! I can't say why....but i think it is restful but in a bold way and has an easy elegance to it. some of the ones i saw were impressive works but no place for the eye to rest. those have striking impact also but i like the more subtle deviations w/ a punch or two of boldness.
Last edited by mea12; 05-19-2014 at 05:19 AM.
#45
You might try that route. I will enclose a picture of it. Doing it inspired me to do more. It might do the same for you?
Dina
#46
Dina, thank you for your tips. I did just google bargello quilt images and WOW! some look as though they use different strip sets vs just the same one throughout. very complex they are!! After viewing 15 pages, may i say your brown one appeals to me the most!! I can't say why....but i think it is restful but in a bold way and has an easy elegance to it. some of the ones i saw were impressive works but no place for the eye to rest. those have striking impact also but i like the more subtle deviations w/ a punch or two of boldness.
Have you looked at this one? It might interest you. I used it for the inspiration for the brown one.
http://www.northcott.net/?sid=3&layo...id=1&colid=549
Dina
#47
Hi Dina,
I think I know exactly what you are going through! I have been making a lot of bargellos the last few years and am always looking for new patterns.
I believe there are good reasons for our bargello compulsion;
1. They ARE beautiful visually.
2. Bargello quilts are still kind of unusual, at least in my part of the world.
3. They appeal to those who may not like traditional quilts...especially men and teens, and so make great gifts.
4. Making a bargello is challenging and satisfying! They require quite a bag of tricks, especially color selecting skill, precision sewing of hundreds of seams, and finally, concentration and endurance!
Now, I NEED to go work in my garden, but I really WANT to start a new bargello!
Karen in Columbia, La.
I think I know exactly what you are going through! I have been making a lot of bargellos the last few years and am always looking for new patterns.
I believe there are good reasons for our bargello compulsion;
1. They ARE beautiful visually.
2. Bargello quilts are still kind of unusual, at least in my part of the world.
3. They appeal to those who may not like traditional quilts...especially men and teens, and so make great gifts.
4. Making a bargello is challenging and satisfying! They require quite a bag of tricks, especially color selecting skill, precision sewing of hundreds of seams, and finally, concentration and endurance!
Now, I NEED to go work in my garden, but I really WANT to start a new bargello!
Karen in Columbia, La.
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 451
Dina, i do like the style of that northcott one quite a lot but i like yours better!! i do feel the border is just all wrong for that quilt but that's just a preference thing. Will prob go w/ that pattern for my first..as apparently its too difficult to stop at one! i may try a mini version first as a wall-hanging. that could look pretty amazing too. I do agree w/ previous poster who said these have appeal for all genders/ages..its a really great style with universal appeal and does fall somewhere between traditional and modern.
#49
Dina, i do like the style of that northcott one quite a lot but i like yours better!! i do feel the border is just all wrong for that quilt but that's just a preference thing. Will prob go w/ that pattern for my first..as apparently its too difficult to stop at one! i may try a mini version first as a wall-hanging. that could look pretty amazing too. I do agree w/ previous poster who said these have appeal for all genders/ages..its a really great style with universal appeal and does fall somewhere between traditional and modern.
In fact, I made a small wall hanging based on that pattern. Let me see if I can find a picture of it. I didn't use all the pattern, but I did start with it. I forgot how many fabrics I used, but you could count them. I like this wall hanging so much that I made the brown Bargello to match it.
Dina
#50
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 673
i've done the same kind of thing my whole life. i'll find something that fascinates me, and i worry at it and work it to death. when i've either mastered it, or researched it to death, and i feel as though i "have it", i'm able to move on to something else. this has proved true with nearly everything i've ever set out to do. (luckily, i haven't mastered the marriage thing, so i'm still married to the original--and i still have all of my kids, too. i never gave even one of them away.) fill your life with the beloved bargello--and when you're done, you'll know.
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