feline fanatic

I like the idea of moving #8. Will play some more with the placement. Yes #15 is a toughy. It was from my stash and very varigated batik. Parts of it are very brown with a bit of blue splash but other parts of it are very yellowy gold so it may not make the cut. #20 is out. I only have a half yard of it and I don't want to risk it. Plus input from others have got me leaning to a more brown. The pattern calls for 5 shades of fabric that reads one color (my blues) and 15 that read the other (my browns) with some colors of both in some of the fabs so I am well on my way in that respect. I believe I have also eliminated #16 from the mix as well. When opened up there is just way to much green in that one. That's ok I love the fab and it will find a home in my stash until a quilt comes along that asks for it. I ordered some more browns and a couple of blues to replace the eliminated colors and play around. Stay tuned, should have an updated selection in a week or two.

barnbum

Oh boy--an update!! PM me, please, when it's up in case I don't get an email!! Aren't you glad you got to order more? :-D

Cyn

I just watched a quilting show on tv that said most quilters do not use light enough or dark enough colors when they do these quilts. I can't think which one I was watching but the lady was explaining basically if you were to pull 9 colors in graduating colors and values- people miss 1 & 2 and 8 & 9. Maybe the show was Quilt Arts.

DogHouseMom

Problem 1 - I wouldn't. I usually go a little over what they call for. Call it a "fudge factor". And I fudge a lot :)

Some other observations I made:

From left to right -

fabrics 15 & 17 have too much variation within the fabric. Remember that some of the individual bargello pieces will be VERY tiny (1/4" from the looks of it) so you will have some squares of one color and some of another - in the same place on the color run which will throw the whole scheme off. Try to choose fabrics with either little variation in both color and value, or very tiny print of color/value variation (less than your smallest bargello piece).

Fabric 18 while pretty, looks too orangy/red for this color run. I think it will be a "bump" (see below).

Fabric 19 is blue between an orangy/red and a brown. You have light blue in the middle of your color run. So your color run is going to be light beige, blue, medium to dark brown - with a blue stuck in there by itself, then to darkest brown. So while the value is good in this position, the color is different. Different isn't bad if that's what you want - so just know that what you'll see is not one color "wave" but three "waves" with a "bump". Could be nice ... I've neve tried it :)

When I plan a bargello, especially with as many fabrics as you have, I'll swap out fabrics TONS of times, photograph them, convert to B&W, swap out again, etc. It will take me days. Most of the time I leave my selection laid out on my cutting table where I can see it every time I pass the sewing room. Sometimes different light of day gives me inspiration, sometimes a bleary eyed early morning wake up helps me see an "oops". It's a process - but I think it's one of the of the things I REALLY enjoy about Bargello.

Two examples are below of what can happen when you choose a print that has too much color/value variation within the print. Note the centerpiece in the first photo. Some of the pieces show a lot of black, and some show way too much "light" throwing the whole thing off. So ... I got some black ink and ... see second photo with still a fair amount of gold in one of the pieces, but all the "grey" is gone. Still not perfect, but better. However, note the same fabric is on the outside corners of the bargello as well, but because it's on the corners it doesn't throw it off - so I didn't see the need to ink those in. This was the second Bargello I ever made (and still haven't finished!).

Good luck ... keep auditioning fabrics. It's a process.