Today's Quilter - UK (2020-03)

ESSENTIAL GUIDE lsewing bargello patchwork

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mindthreadcoloura d quiltin

A commonwayofcreating

Bargellopatchworkis withstrip

piecing,wherethestrip-pieced

unitis formedintoa tubeand

thensubcutintoringsof fabric

of the desired width.

1

Chooseyourfabrics– in

theexampledescribedand

showninFig 4 , sixfabricsare

used.Cuttwostripsfromeach

colour,cuttingthestrips 2 in

widex about 24 inlong.Sew

fabricstrips1 to6 togetherinthe

desiredorderusinginseams

andthenrepeat,pressing seams

open or to one side.

2

Takethisstrip-piecedunit

andfoldit inhalf,rightsides

together,asinFig 5 , matching

thetopedges.Sewtheedges

together to form a tube.

3

Foldthetubeflatandcutit

intosegmentsat thewidths

requiredusinga rotarycutterand

ruler.IntheFig 6 example,all

segmentsarethesamewidthof

2 in,butotherBargellodesigns

mayusevaryingwidths.Make

sureyouarecuttingexactlyat

right angles to the seams.

4

ReferringtoFig 7 andstarting

withRow1, takethefirstring

offabricandunpicktheseam

at thepositionrequired.Inthe

exampleshown,thisis between

Fabric1 and6.Laythestripout

flat.Takethesecondringoffabric

andunpicktheseambetween

Fabric1 and2 (Fig 8 ). Laythe

stripflatbesidethefirststrip.

Continueinthisway,changing

thepositionoftheunpicked

seams,sothepatternundulates

according to the plan.

5

Useinseamstosewthe

rowstogether,pinningright

sidestogetherandmatchingseam

junctionscarefully.Pressseams

openortooneside.Fig 9 shows

thefinalresultofthissimple

pattern.Youcancreatemore

intricateeectsbyvaryingthe

‘waves’ (see Wave Eects).

Fabric 1

2

6

5

4

3

1

2

6

5

4

3

Fig 4 Sewing the strip-pieced unit

Fold

in

half

Wrongside

Sewseam

Fig 5 Forming the unit into a tube

Cut 2 Ωinwidesegments

Trim

endto

givea

clean

edge

Fig 6 Cutting the tube into segments

Unpick

seam

Fig 7 Unpickinga seam between

colours

Unpick

seam

Row 1 Row 2 Row 3

Row

1

Unpick

seam Unpick

seam

23 4 5 67 8 9

Fig 8 Workingalongrowsto

unpick the seams

Fig 9 Final result

TUBE METHOD