Friday, December 07, 2007

Bargello top finished!

52X75.
The pattern is free over at www.bighornquilts.com - and if you decide to make one - check out my tips from my September 12th post. http://scrappyhappystarfishy.blogspot.com/2007/09/bargello-progress.html

Ta-da! Last week I cut the border fabrics and this week, bit by bit - I got them attached! Of course, Little Boy just loves this quilt - after all, it has orange in it (his current favorite color, pink running a close 2nd) and it is all "rainbow-y". I was planning on backing it with that bright yellow, but if he is claiming it - then I probably should get some fleece or flannel, the softer the better.

I thought I squared this up pretty good, but one edge is not completely straight. It was a bit tricky to square up with all the tiny rows and no "straight" line to shoot since everything is all staggered. After the fact I am thinking that DH's laser light leveler (you probably even have one around your house) would be perfect for shooting down the length of a top to make sure the edges are straight - before adding borders. After it is all quilted, I am sure that slightly bowed edge will not even be noticable - and it DOES lie almost completely flat on the floor so I'll call it good.

Originally, I thought I would add a wider orange inner border, but when I laid it all out (before sewing, phew!), I thought the orange detracted from the design - so it got left out. Here's how I laid out my 2 options on the floor to help me decide.


And here is a photo of the perfect, perfect, perfect border fabric I scored last trip to Marden's!!! Border fabric for this top was on the list and was I ever thrilled when I saw this sitting on the shelf!


I'm very happy with it! This used up a bunch of my medium value calicos -the ones I think are pretty, but never seem to use because there isn't enough contrast, plus just cleared out some of those older prints - still pretty, but gosh, they have been on the shelf long enough! Much better to have them in a quilt, don't you think?

And, thanks for all the comments on my yellow/purple color choice from my last post. Even though I have TONS of that yellow, I probably will go with the purple - will just have to use narrower sashings to stretch the fabric. Still, that yellow is going to be put to use sometime this year - I am already searching for the perfect pattern, although I certainly have enough to use it for a backing on something else... decisions, decisions!

7 comments:

Joyce said...

It turned out beautifully. You were definitely right to leave out the orange border. Also, I firmly believe that nobody ever measures a quilt to see if it's absoultely square so don't worry about that.

Elaine Adair said...

Are you saying that you found the border print AFTER you pieced the center? How's THAT for amazing!

BTW - the quilt is just wonderful! Such a lovely blend of colors.

Laurie Ann said...

Wow, that border couldn't be any more PERFECT!!!!

loulee said...

Stunning, absolutely stunning.

Little boy sure enjoyed the storm!

Susan said...

That's a great quilt, perfect border, I agree. No wonder LB wants it. Glad you left off that orange border, though. Trust me, it will quilt out. =)

Anonymous said...

What a great border!

And those neck warmers are really great. I should make some of those.

Rebecca

Quilts And Pieces said...

Wow, just catching up and you have posted so many beautiful quilts, and such fun with little boy! Hope you all have a very merry Christmas and wonderful new year!