Bargello U: Easy Bargello Piecing

We've talked a bit about how to make things in strips that look so much harder than they are.

Bargello piecing is so impressive looking. All those little pieces, done square after square. And it took you, how long? 
Don't be silly. We don't do hard here and we don't do time consuming. Bargello piecing is lightning fast.
These great fabrics are all part of the same fabric line and they're in stock in the store. You can sew along, if you want.

Take a number of strips. Sew them together. 
Cut them into segments.
The segments can either be the same or graduated in different widths. There's really no wrong way to do this.


Sew the segments at each end to each other to make a ring.This is the part my photo shop skills can't quite master. Would you please imagine I can show you that?

Sew the segments together moving up one square at a time.  

If you do different sized segments it looks like this.
Cut across all the segments to make it one bargello piece.

Tada! That wasn't that hard. It looks like a mountain of bits sewed together, but since we started with strip it's fast as a flash.
Things to remember when sewing strips:

• Even counts. Keep your seam size as accurate as you can. It doesn't matter what it is, just be consistent.
• Use a sharp rotary blade. Always. Actually it's much safer.
• Trim you strips to straighten them up. They will get funky after several cuts
• Press with steam when you're done, from the front. You'll want to make sure all the seams are flat and open.
• Do lift and press rather than running an iron over it.
• Seams in the back can point any way they like. It's better if you press to the dark side, but if they're inside your quilt making comments, squish them out. 

Sew up some seams and start cutting and stitching. It's endless fun and you'll find yourself amazed.

Strippy Stripes: Past the Jelly Roll

The advent of  the Modern Quilt Movement and pre cut jelly rolls have made strip quilts really popular. 

From Satin Moon 

We see a lot of the instant jelly roll quilts. They are fun. Just sew the strips together and you have a quilt

From Texas Lovely

But since the advent of the rotary cutter, quilters have begun to see pieced fabric just as fabric. A pieced section of strips is something you can cut up and sew together to make a more complicated, and interesting pattern. 

From Big Horn Quilts

So we'll look at several ways to take stripped piecing and turn it into much more intricate work, by cutting, turning and resewing our strips.

Reeze Hanson, Morning Glory Designs

Once you start viewing your pieced strips as a starting spot, you'll be amazed at what you can do with them. We'll look at cutting triangles, bargello,  and Seminole piecework as ways you can turn your strippy stripes into awesome piecing.