Friday, September 4, 2015

Strips with style

Hello everyone!  It's Labor Day weekend--can you believe it?  It has been a really wild summer for us and I'm not that sorry to see it wind down.  It would be a great time right now, but where we are the temperature is still in the 90s.  It's like the summer we didn't have before.  Now that we've tasted it, though, it can cool down any time.

My big finish for this week is this:


A fun liitle bargello runner!


This is a Row by Row Experience kit from Lyons Quilting in Colorado, where my husband's brother and his family live.  This little runner is destined for my sister-in-law, who wants it for a very specific place, I think.

Almost too pretty to cut up!

This is the very first time I've ever done bargello, believe it or not.  It's such a common technique that I can't believe I haven't tried it before. I thought it was pretty easy, though I did have some trouble making such a large strip set.


I've made plenty of strip sets, but this was 13 strips, which got a little unwieldy.  I found it better to alternate sewing directions with each new strip, and to press from the back instead of the front.  This made everything a lot straighter and a lot flatter.

This was a very easy technique, and I'm planning to try it again, but with a bigger pieces.  These little squares end up at 1 inch each, which is actually pretty small.


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Everybody have a great Labor Day weekend.  We are planning to relax and maybe explore some of our new surroundings, if it isn't too hot.  There's nowhere for a grill or anything at the condo, so we're going to have to come up with some new traditions.

Happy sewing! Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and Finish it up Friday.


9 comments:

PugMom said...

Hi Mari
Love, love, love the bright colors in this and bargello is one of my favorite techniques! Stay inside in the air conditioning and sew!
Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Ramona said...

Beautiful table runner! It looks like the mountains with the sun shining off of water below. Gorgeous!

Chiska said...

So pretty!

Carie @ Space for the Butterflies said...

Oh isn't it gorgeous!! I love the colours and I agree with Ramona it's just like water and mountains 😀

JanineMarie said...

Oh, I agree, Mari, this heat (AND THE HUMIDITY!!) can go any time now. I'm glad to see you're settled enough to get more sewing done. I like your bargello. I haven't tried it, but your tips are helpful should I ever give it a go. I'm intrigued by the Row by Row Experience, but the rows I like best would require a major road trip if I was ever to take part.

Sara said...

Beautiful colors. I can picture this as a bed runner if it was long enough. But it will look great no matter where it is placed.

Bernie Kringel said...

This is a great project. I did a wall hanging with the Bargello strip set method and loved it. I keep thing I should make something else using this method because I really had fun the first time around.

Hoping it cools down for your guys soon. It's time for fall.

PaulaB quilts said...

Thanks so much for the good tips about the Bargello, and also the excellent tutorial on the Classic Orange.. I really appreciate them both.

Jamie @ Sew Brainy said...

Love the colors! I totally want to try that technique!