A few months ago I had never heard of “bargello” but it has been fun learning about it. “Bargello” is a quilting term that refers to a zigzag motif similar to a design found on some chairs in an old fortress (they call it a palace) in Florence, Italy. The Bargello Palace is now a museum, and in it you can find these chairs with the zigzag design in the seat and back coverings.
Some bargello designs are made with needlepoint, but quilters can also make a design that reflects the bargello style. Recently I went to a workshop to learn more about quilting a bargello.
The options are endless, but traditionally the colours are supposed to go from dark to light for that special effect. I did not go out shopping for well-matched colours, but used scraps of what I had. For learning how to do the process, I thought it would work well enough. Others in the workshop had much better colour matches and the effect was much more dramatic.
The process is basically this:
You lay out your strips of cloth using two sets of colours going from light to dark.
Sew the strips together. You even sew the last strip to the first one to make a tube.
Turn the tube sideways and cut into strips again.
Lay them out in a zigzag design that you find pleasing, opening up the top seams for the full length of the strip again. You can see this on some of the samples of designs that other quilters came up with.
The strips will be sewn together and evened out at the top and bottom, then batting and backing and binding is added to finish the quilt.
The possibilities are endless.
March 31, 2017 at 10:29 am
Beautiful!
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March 31, 2017 at 10:33 am
Thanks, Lacey. It was fun to learn something new and to see what others were doing.
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March 31, 2017 at 10:54 am
I knew this was going to be interesting as soon as you said tube. Very creative.
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March 31, 2017 at 12:22 pm
The reason for the tube (I’ve learned) is so you can rotate the colours until you get them located where you want before cutting it open, and that way you don’t have to cut off and waste all the extra fabric at the ends.
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March 31, 2017 at 11:38 am
A wonderful design with beautiful results.
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March 31, 2017 at 12:18 pm
It will be interesting to see what the end result is. First time for me.
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March 31, 2017 at 11:42 am
Wow. What a beautiful pattern one could achieve with this method. Love the color combinations in the photos. I would love to see what you will be making with this technique. Perhaps your next post will show us the finished product! 😀 Thanks for sharing this one.
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March 31, 2017 at 12:19 pm
LOL I’ll have to wait and see how it turns out first before I promise a picture of the finished product. But it could be fun to do this with some specially thought out colours rather than the scraps grab bag.
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March 31, 2017 at 12:54 pm
I’d never heard of bargello either, Anneli. This is very interesting. I especially love the bright color choices. Thanks for the intro!
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March 31, 2017 at 1:02 pm
I briefly wondered if it was a new kind of jellied chocolate bar, but soon found out it was another kind of quilt.
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March 31, 2017 at 1:08 pm
LOL!
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March 31, 2017 at 1:15 pm
I like it, great design!
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March 31, 2017 at 2:12 pm
Could be fun to experiment with.
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March 31, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Interesting. I can see why you like it.
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March 31, 2017 at 2:13 pm
Some of the finished quilts done by experts are really amazing.
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March 31, 2017 at 2:49 pm
Patience comes to mind immediately. Beautiful work for those who know how:)
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March 31, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Anyone can learn, Dawn. How about sewing a bargello for Ivy?
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March 31, 2017 at 6:37 pm
When I clicked on the link I thought I’ll learn about a new Italian red wine 🙂
But, this was more colorful 🙂
Cheers !
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March 31, 2017 at 7:59 pm
Hahaaaaa! That would have been more interesting and I would love to have shared a glass with you.
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March 31, 2017 at 6:42 pm
Beautiful colours…and I love that pattern. I’ve been to the Bargello in Florence…very old and very lovely!
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March 31, 2017 at 8:00 pm
That’s funny. I thought about you as I looked up Bargello and found out it was in Florence. I wonder if you saw the chairs. I don’t suppose you would have had reason to notice them.
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March 31, 2017 at 7:38 pm
My mother taught bargello needlepoint back in the 1960s and 1970s, and I learned from her. I have a beautiful bell pull that she did with several bargello patterns incorporated, and I still have some of her books. It’s great fun, although I preferred using other needlepoint stitches. I never have heard of the technique being incorporated into quilting. I assumed it strictly was used for tapestry/needlework.
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March 31, 2017 at 8:01 pm
I think originally it probably was mainly for needlepoint, but you know how those quilters are – they’ll try anything. 😉
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March 31, 2017 at 8:07 pm
And to good effect, I must say! I think the quilting must be far more difficult than the needlepointing.
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March 31, 2017 at 8:30 pm
To be honest, I think I like the needlepoint better for this style.
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April 1, 2017 at 3:40 am
These are all stunning. I had never seen this type of quilting before. Thank you for sharing it.
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April 1, 2017 at 8:16 am
I think it’s an interesting way to make a design. Thanks for visiting.
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April 8, 2017 at 7:53 pm
It seems very complicated and tedious to me, Anneli! Just saying I’m not sure icould do this! I liked the yellow and blues on the spectrum. So fun and challenging! 🙂
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April 8, 2017 at 7:58 pm
I worked on it again today and it is very tedious. But the end results are pleasing to see.
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April 9, 2017 at 5:25 pm
I admire people who stay with finishing projects. I start and stop projects often. Sometimes I have to donate them to Goodwill or get someone to take “it” off my hands, Anneli. The end results will definitely be worth the effort!! 🙂
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April 9, 2017 at 5:43 pm
I used to be way worse than I am now for not finishing projects, but I’m getting a handle on it and don’t allow myself to start new projects until I get old ones done.
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