Friday, June 24, 2011

Jelly Roll Bargello


Bargello, originally uploaded by sailbit.
I love bargellos. Love love love em -- so it was inevitable that I get around to making one. Ta da - mine is made from an island batiks jelly roll in "sweet pea" by Hoffman. This is a nice picture of part of the top - right now it is kinda long and gangly looking until I figure out what I want to do for borders.

When the bargello obsession hit I went and researched how they were made. It makes for interesting reading, loaded with eye candy. On warning I read over and over was "do not attempt in batiks!"

The basis of the bargello is that the fabrics you use are predictable from one segment to the next in order to carry the wave pattern you are creating. With batiks - especially batiks that vary -- the whole thing gets VERY tricky. Since I wanted to go with a soft watercolor palette in blue and purple, things got tougher. Sometimes I really am my own worst enemy.

Oh wait, it is gorgeous isn't it? I guess I'm not an enemy to myself after all :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Quilt Helpers 101


Quilt Helpers 101, originally uploaded by sailbit.
I'm sure you have seen this delightful quilting notion in use before --- but this might be a new task for yours.

Eliminate tangling of your piecing chains by using the elevated surface of the tool to stack the sewn pieces. If your quilting tool (also called a CAT) is well trained to help you in your fabric adventures, he won't move at all until he is completely buried.





Happy Quilting! =^.^=