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What do you give a college co-ed for Christmas? A quilt made from her favorite colors combined with her school colors! My amazing niece Jae is a diver at University of Minnesota. So I used her favorite color pink, her school colors maroon and gold, and a very cool jelly roll that combined these three colors to make a vibrant quilt.
I had always wanted to make a bargello quilt and this seemed like the perfect occasion. Using a long strip for the main initial color and jelly roll strips for the rest, I was able to create a bargello design that also looked like the letter M. The bargello technique involves making a strip quilt that is cut again into strips of varying lengths and resewn as you move pieces from one end of the strip to another to create the bargello movement.
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As usual, I had a little extra fabric to create a fun design for the back of the quilt, So I made a small bargello panel for the back. The extra strips from the border fabric made an interesting striped pattern as well. Why not have a little fun on the back?
The quilt was finished with an edge-to-edge design. Why have the quilting compete with the piecing? Because the colors were so bright, I picked a lovely King Tut variegated thread that would blend with all of them.
Of course, the most important thing is the reaction of the new quilt owner. I think from her smile she likes it! Yeah!!
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If you would like to make a version of this quilt, the pattern for the quilt front is available on my Etsy Store.
Happy Quilting!
Laureen