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!