The backing of the bargello

I had completed the front of my bargello quilt sometime ago (2014), but only got round to the backing last year because originally I thought I would do more bargello patterns for the backing, but I gave up on that idea once I realised how much more time I would need to put into this already very delayed quilt.  In the end I did a quickie and used up the very beautiful leftover fabrics that incorporated the front, all 13 of them. I really had no idea how to design the backing. My imagination is very lacking in that department. It ended up very plain, but in my head I was just saying, "get it done". I initially only added the stripes, but felt the centre of the fabric needed an extra bit of punch so I added three love hearts with the fabric cut on the angle. Trying to convey two hearts coming together as one - my Mum and Step-Dad.

The right side decided on and sewn

More planning

Backwards way of putting my backing together

Completed before hearts added

The three hearts added

So pleased I added the hearts because that gap was way too plain

Two smalls hearts become one

Bargello top completed

After 3.5 years I have finally completed my bargello top. The reason for the delay was because of three underlying factors:
1.     I didn't follow my instructions properly.
2.     I ran out of base fabric and had to order via an America site.
3.     Motivation was zip at the end.

So I guess the moral of the story is, read your instructions twice, even three times; measure twice and cut once and for the motivation put on some zippity-do-dah music to crank things up!

On completing I sang (badly) the tune below a couple of times, because quite proudly, I was full of joy :)

1. Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
   God of glory, Lord of love;
   Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
   Op’ning to the sun above.
   Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
   Drive the dark of doubt away;
   Giver of immortal gladness,
   Fill us with the light of day!

1. 
   
2. 
   

Round up of last two months

Just like that, two months fly by without me tapping the keyboard to add any updates of my unpicking skills! I have three lame excuses, (1) lack of motivation to turn on the laptop; (2) the thought of waiting for dial-up to load my blog page and (3) being on hols in a place where the dial-up is even slower than at home... All that might change soon as at long last my beach community finally have access to Broadband. I now need to "contact my provider"!

On the quilting front:
The bargello quilt - haven't touched it since November... needless to say my parents received alternative Christmas presents.

The log cabin quilt - slowly, but surely I am making process. I have finished the initial 12 houses. The next smaller 16 houses (or out-houses as I like to call them!) are in the cutting out stage.

The mystery quilt - is still that, a mystery!!! I printed out the last set of instructions without looking at the printer, so it's still a mystery as to what it will look like. I did briefly begin appliqueing the second elephant.

Molly in the Garden wall hanging - all the essential bits are appliqued on, but then I got stuck on my flowers. This will need to be taken to my UFO classes to get some guidance.

My first bag - COMPLETE!!! I gave this to my sister at Christmas for a belated July birthday gift. She loves it. It turned out quite nice, can't wait to make another!! Find some pictures below to prove that someone who has never made a bag before, can! (even though it took a really, really, long time...). The beautiful print is of course from the French General range, just divine.

I shall be returning to my UFO classes next Wednesday. Can't wait to catch up on all the goodies the group have been making. Happy stitching!

Triangle rights and wrongs

OK, so I didn't read the directions properly and now I am up the creek... I formed four individual triangles. I was supposed to form two squares, THEN cut them in half after I completed all the detail, to form four triangles. My borders now appear to be up the wop. I am DETERMINED to get it right. I think sometimes "perseverance" is my middle name!!

I shall add a couple of pics to show you what I have done so far. I had attached all four corners to my bargello, but have since done lots of, yes, you guessed it, unpicking. I will not let this quilt beat me.

Bargello portion completed!!!

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but I was busy doing other things that I forgot to post the exciting news!!

I must admit after all the resizing, which was a lot and very timely, the finished product was pretty damm amazing if I say so myself. I had to stand back and look at my efforts in silence for sometime and let it all sink in. One year's worth of toil, happy stitching, unpicking, hiccups and buzzy happy moments. I think I needed the two weeks off from it just to let it all sink in - I had finally done it! Now to begin the borders...

Bargello complete

Ditto

Bargello - final rows sewn

It had to happen, I finally cracked my last two rows of my bargello quilt! What a mission... It took me five hours on Sunday to size up the four blocks required to do the third row. I basically had to unpick a row off each block and sew on another to make it wider, then cut it down to the exact size. I finished the fourth row tonight about 6.30. I decided I wouldn't iron the seams in the dark, but wait till tomorrow night - one of the good things about daylight saving. So thrilled to have finally achieved this part of the quilt. Next up will be to iron the seams and then sew the rows altogether.

Bargello all ready to sew the first two rows together

Close up on my pinned seams - a lot of work to sew over!

First two rows sewed together

Bargello - first row

With no sewing group for two weeks I didn't touch my bag at all, only to iron the zipped pocket... I cracked on with my bargello blocks though and started to sew them into rows, two down, two to go. That is a rather easy sentence to write, but it felt like a lifetime to do.... The blocks when completed needed to be 13.5" squared, so you can imagine the sounds coming from the sewing room when they measured 14" one side and only 13.2" on the other. Sheesh... this meant cutting down one side, equally, to 13.5, then unpicking one of the rows and adding on another that was just a tad wider. What a lot of fiddling about and getting it right. If they weren't right they wouldn't line up. And all this because either I, (a) didn't sew exactly 1/4" at all times or (b) didn't cut my strips exactly to size. So, if you're about to start a bargello, being accurate is the key! Will I ever do another one, yes, but not this big...

First row completed

Bargellos, bags and cabins

Crikey, the month of August has just flown by. I almost haven't had enough time to scratch my bum!

I've been pretty busy trying to get my bargello together to resemble looking like a quilt. I finally sewed together all my 16 blocks the other weekend and then arranged them on my bed to see what the end feature would look like, and I must admit I was pretty blown away by the effect it is going to make. My next assignment on that quilt will be to sew the rows together.

All 16 blocks assembled ready to sew together

At my sewing group I started making a bag with the rest of the troops and am progressing slowly, but surely. Two of the group finished theirs last Wednesday and they are absolutely smashing. It is great to see their faces on completion, huge beaming smiles and wops of delight and satisfaction. I sewed my braid on, very wobbly I might add, but nevertheless it is now on. I did the detail on the straps and next week will start sewing them onto the top of the bag. I should take a photo of my progress so far, but that will have to wait till it is daylight again!

In the meantime I got encouraged to start another quilt. This one will be for my Dad and his wife. The colours they love are green, blue and pink. After turning the pages of several magazines to get some ideas I finally, yes finally, decided on one called 'Home Sweet Home' by Lee Avard. It is from 'Australian Patchwork & Quilting', vol.3, no.4. I have cut and sewn six blocks already and today cut out six more. I've come to realise that cutting out is one of the most time consuming bits of making a quilt.... and unless you have a cutting table at a height that doesn't involve bending, you end up with a sore back, Gordon Bennett!! I am cutting my strips for cabins wider than the instructions say cos I want the quilt to end up bigger. I shall add a photo in a day or two of where I'm at. At least I'll be able to look back at this blog one day and tell myself, "Gee, you did that!?" I really want to start sewing my blocks together tonight, but I having taped Coro Street for the last two nights. The Street wins out, ha!

Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Two halves make a whole

At last I finally finished sewing my halves to complete my blocks!! I will now sew the two halves together to make a whole!! Can't wait for the blocks to become whole and get a better picture of where the quilt is taking me. I have so many threads to trim, rows to iron and make them all look pretty. Sometimes when we do block construction we often are so focussed on the task at hand that we forget the bigger picture. Last week I was de-moaning that I wished the blocks would just vanish, but now with them complete I can't wait for the next step in the process.

Here are the completed halves all ready to sew as whole blocks.

This is what the two halves will look like when complete!