Bargello: Quilts in Motion: A New Look for Strip-Pieced Quilts

By Ruth Ann Berry

Create stunning quilts with flowing curves with this 8-project guide by a designer who offers a fresh take on bargello quilting techniques.
 
Here's Bargello like you've never seen it before: stunning quilts full of free-form twists, turns, and 3-D effects that look like pop-art paintings. The biggest surprise is how simple these quilts are to make! Designer Ruth Ann Berry shows you how to use easy, straight-line strip piecing to create the illusion of curves in motion.
 
This volume includes step-by-step instructions for 8 projects plus directions on how to create your own designs. Perfect for daily use quilts or wallhangings, Bargello piecing also provides a new way to slice up your stash―making novelty fabrics and even ugly fabrics look good.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781607058113

Book preview

I have long been fascinated by Bargello quilts because they look so much more complicated than they really are. The process is truly simple, but with the right blending and contrasting, the results can be stunning. I think what catches the eye is the impression of motion, as with kinetic op art. I was drawn to the idea that if I viewed a quilt as a three-dimensional medium with a wind-blown ribbon or a painted line scribbled across a stationary environment, I could experiment with different ways of making the apparently moving design distinct from the apparently static background.

I developed four different solutions for creating the separation of the two elements:

■ A collection of prints forming a busy pattern (the scribble) on a solid background, as in Batikiello ( page 12 ) and Showers of Flowers ( page 16 )

■ A solid, gradated pattern (the scribble) on a background of busy prints, as in Moody Blues ( page 20 ) and Days of Pie ( page 24 )

■ The scribble and background constructed from different, contrasting color runs, as in Vine and Branches ( page 28 ) and Lavender Dreams ( page 32 )

■ A solid-color run splashed across a series of plaids or a background of stripes, as in Total Plaidness ( page 36 ) and Asleep at the Beach ( page 40 )

I started by making the green panels for Vine and Branches, cutting strips of various widths and pinning them on a design wall. I auditioned different ways of making the design appear as if it were being scribbled back and forth across a page with twists and curves, sometimes doubling back on itself or spilling off from the background. After I had the scribble in place, I filled in the spaces on a piece of graph paper to represent the position of the green fabrics and then added numbers on the graph to represent the brown background fabrics. Stitching it into reality was extremely rewarding. On a subsequent canoe trip to Isle Royale, Michigan, with my youngest son, I passed the quiet time by Lake Siskiwit drawing the rest of the designs in this book.

Selecting Fabric

It seems like you need a separate set of fabric shopping eyes for each style of quilt you set out to create. For a quilt with repeat blocks, you shop for fabrics that work together but have a strong value contrast, so that the shapes within the blocks stand out and the perfect points and seam matchups are showcased. For watercolor- or landscape-style quilts, you are on the lookout for a gradual blending of values so that the transition from one fabric to another is smooth and the shape of the individual pieces disappears into the composition as a whole.

The projects in this book require a little bit of both strategies. Scout for two distinct sets of fabric that blend smoothly from light to dark within their set but that contrast strongly with the other set of fabrics. First, decide how you would like to separate the two elements of your design—the scribble and the background. Choose a light-to-dark series of prints (batiks, florals, or plaids) to go with a graduation of solid color, or