Diamonds Jubilee Bargello- Pins, Pins and More Pins!

Bargello- Diamonds Jubilee quilt top

Today I finally pinned together my huge Diamonds Jubilee Bargello quilt! The quilt top is 104” inches wide and 105” inches long; The largest quilt I have made so far!

I had recently sewn 3 long pieces of fabric (Cat Tails and Clover by Kansas Troubles for Moda)( 43” X 112” inches each), one above the other to make a square 112” by 122”.  I was not happy with the quality of the big chunk of batting that I had (too many thin spots) so I went to town to buy a better one. 

(The other batting, I will cut up into smaller pieces for other quilts or bags, thus avoiding the thin spots.) 

What a job laying out the huge backing, taping it down to the kitchen floor, then laying the batting on top of that! Next I smoothed the quilt top on top of those first 2 layers and tried to make sure it was straight.  Then I started pinning the 3 layers together in the centre working my way out. I soon ran out of pins!

Leaving the quilt layers taped to the floor, we drove to town that afternoon where I bought 80 more curved safety pins. (Also leaving the cats outside and the dogs down stairs as hey are entirely too inquisitive...)  

Once it was thoroughly pinned together, I trimmed the excess batting and back fabric off the sides of the quilt, leaving about 4 inches extra on all sides. After that I rolled the quilt towards the middle from both long sides.  

Now I plan on first ditch quilting the 2 centre seams and then free motion quilting my Bargello in a leaf/ vine pattern vertically from top to bottom.  Haven’t decided yet about how to quilt the borders...  This will be  a bit of work, but I think it will be well worth it once it’s completed. :)

Happy quilting!

Laying the back fabric and the batting on the kitchen floor, then the quilt top on top was a bit tricky as the floor space was not quite big enough!