Bargello Strips

I am teaching a Bargello class in February and this is my sample,  (please ignore my Aunt Millies being used as a table cloth underneath). I made my MIL a Bargello table runner for Christmas and found it a lot of fun and very addictive.  Maybe because my curiosity has now been satisfied, this seems to be a much longer progress.... or maybe because this is a about 15 times bigger?!  There are 20 strips in each 'set' and I need to make 4 full sets and 2 partial sets.  I've finished 12 strips so far, and then, the fun really begins.  You then get to cut and slice, and make magic.  I shall you my progress as I go along.

As with all things quilting, there are always handy tips to make life easier and bargello is no exception. I'll let you know these when I've got a full list for you.

Hope you had a happy Australia Day,
Michelle xx

p.s. quite proud of myself... I looked at my strips sitting there about 10 minutes ago and thought, "I should blog about that.. I'll do it tomorrow", but then decided to strike while the iron is hot!  Feels quite good to be organised I have to say.. might give it real bash this year!

one . word. BACKUP!!!!

Oh my gosh.. not a great start to the new year (shame really because the REAL start to the new year was fantastic!).  The new(ish) computers hard drive died, crashed, kaputt! And NOTHING could be retrieved.  Yes, we do have an external hard drive, but we hadn't backed up since last March, so everything since then has gone... photos.... patterns... everything.  Its definitely not the end of the world, people have to deal with far worse in life (and I'm actually the type of person that once something has happened... its done.. so I'm quite calm).  But please let this act as a reminder for you to back up your data. 
So enter friendly Dell computer man (thankfully said computer was still under warranty)... whom I'm sure got the most exuberant welcome he has had in a long time (I made him love his job today).  He painlessly replaced my hard drive, and made me a very happy woman.  Hubby kind of had mixed emotions, as it meant his job once he got home was to reinstall and resetup (is that a word?) as he much as he could. 
So, now that I'm back in the cyber world it is time to pull my finger out and get on with it.  I had a wonderful break (although not too many photos to share.. but lets move on), and am feeling very enthused. Lots of exciting things planned and lots to share, but I'll trickle them out over the next couple of weeks..

Happy stitching,
Michelle xx