RED Squirrel - Revealed -

Ta Dah!! - ;))

It still needs borders - but the center section is done -

This is a Two Fabric Bargello Quilt Top Kit -
By Susie Weaver - that I got at Nancy's Notions - HERE -
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This has been a busy week -

7/22/18 - Sunday -

I dug out the fabrics for the backing for the Blue Floral Crumb Squares - and played with that - because I needed something to post for Monday. After that was done - I played with the RED Squirrel - and used the backing to stall until I had the RED one cut out - then tried to put it together in the "background" while I posted progress on the coin quilt - hoping that would work. I REALLY didn't want to show the RED Squirrel yet - LOL - ;))

Now you can see why I had to make sure it got cut out correctly the FIRST time -

Using a chart written by a Right-Handed person.

She did have separate instructions for lefties -

Which involved rotating/turning/inverting stuff -

But I thought that I could just use the chart as-is and start from the right side of her chart and work my way to the left side - cutting the strips from #33 to #1 instead of from #1 to #33. Same difference - just start at the other end of the tube - ;))

I emailed her to thank her for thinking of us lefties and to check to see if I could do it MY way or if I was missing something. She said as long as the strips are in the correct order from left to right - that I should be OK - and that I was the first one to have an issue with it. BOB replied that that may be - but it could also be possible that I was just the first one to ask about it. We had a really nice chat - she's a nice lady and IS trying to help the lefties whereas quite a few designers don't bother. So IF my way worked - and I didn't see any reason why it wouldn't - it would be one VERY pretty top - ;))

I have never done a "bargello" before - but I have read up on them - and have several patterns. The fabric is absolutely gorgeous - and only TWO of them. She has 9 pages of instructions - and one photo that told me all I needed to know - ;))

7/23/18 - Monday -

I finished the backing for the Blue Floral Crumb Squares and posted that Tuesday morning.

7/24/18 - Tuesday -

Even though I had it all worked out in my head -

How to "compensate" for my LEFT-Handedness -

I inadvertently inverted what I was doing before I even started -

I had sewn the "tube" and pressed the seams "down" so they would be in the proper position as I was sewing the strips together. When I cut strips from "tubes" - I like the seams to show because it's easier for me to line up the ruler and keep my cuts straight - so I did NOT turn it right side out like the instructions said - I also laid it out so the seams were pointing AWAY from me as I cut - so they would "go with the flow" when I rotary cut them. All of this inverted everything to the point where I had no idea when I cut the first strip - if I was cutting #1 or #33 - LOL - ;))

And then I realized that the pattern I wanted to make - the Lightning Bolt - was symmetrical and #1 was the same as #33. So after I cut it - I STILL wouldn't know which one it was - I needed to cut the SECOND strip to see if that puppy was #2 or #32 - depending on which way the "roses" went.

Which is why I said that I knew it was cut properly when the pattern of the roses still worked -

How do I know that it worked? -

And that I kept everything in the correct order? -
Notice I didn't say the "right" order -
LEFT and RIGHT were part of my problem - LOL - ;))

Because you can still see the pattern in the roses AFTER I cut it -
Sorry about the lighting - they really are RED - not Orange -
And sorry for another "tease" - (Gene - LOL) -
But - be patient - the "reveal" will be totally worth it - trust me - ;))

As it turned out - I WAS cutting #33 - 32 - 31 - just like I thought I would be -
Guess a double inversion comes out correctly - LOL - ;))

Anyway - that day I got them ALL cut out and laid out - in order on my ironing pad on the kitchen island - it was easier to pin them to the pad than to try to pin them to the design wall and then walk back and forth and back and forth - sometimes I'm lazy that way - LOL - ;))

7/25/18 - Wednesday -

Puzzle with my friend - and then I re-read the instructions AGAIN - because there was ONE more tricky part - where to mark the cutting lines ON the tubes -

7/26/18 - Thursday -

I marked each strip with white chalk and put a pin in the end with the mark as a visual reminder that I was supposed to cut THAT end - not the OTHER one - ;))

I had it all laid out - labeled - marked - and pinned - and still didn't have the nerve to actually cut it - so I left it there until the next morning -

7/27/18- Friday -

I checked it ONE more time - took a deep breath - and cut the tubes -

And sewed them together -

Transferring one section at a time to my ironing board next to my sewing machine -

The "basting line" of the one strip is supposed to line up with the seam line on the next strip - and the instructions said to pin from that point to each end of the strips - but I didn't bother - at that point - if they were "off" - so be it - I lined up the top of the strips and stitched my 1/4" seam -

This is the next section transferred from the kitchen island to my cutting table -

Last two sections still in the kitchen -

And - the Gods were smiling - I ran out of bobbin thread at the end of a strip - ;))

One of the middle sections -

With the first section back on the kitchen island - waiting for the rest of it to get sewn together -

Two sections - ready to be sewn together -

The last section -

Last seam -

And you can see some of the "lines" don't quite match -

But I don't care - it's together and I think it looks just fine - ;))

It still needs borders - and I'll play with those tomorrow -

Having never done a "bargello" before I thought that the "Two Fabric" version would be easier - but I'm not sure that it was -

There's a lot going on at the same time -

The strips are cut different widths according to a chart -

The design "shifts" up and down as it goes from left to right -

And some strips were measured from the top of the "insert" fabric -

And some were measured from the bottom -

There were several key areas where I could have REALLY messed up -

And I needed to TOTALLY concentrate on what I was doing -

Because I only had enough fabric to cut it ONCE - ;))

But I think it worked -

And I LIKE it - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -