Mountains / Bargello Quilt Block Pattern

New to quilting? Check out our beginner quilting class covering all the basics.

Part 1: How to Sew a Bargello Quilt Block (Mountains Design)

Bargello quilting creates intricate designs through the careful arrangement of fabric strips. Follow these steps to sew a basic Bargello block in the Mountains style.

Materials Needed

• Fabric strips in different colors and widths
• Sewing machine
• Quilting ruler
• Rotary cutter
• Iron and ironing board
• Batting
• Backing fabric

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Choose your fabrics: Select a range of fabrics in complementary colors. Cut the fabric strips into 2½" widths.
2. Arrange the strips: Lay out your fabric strips in a pleasing arrangement, experimenting with color combinations until you find a design you like.
3. Sew the strips: Sew the first two strips together, right sides facing, with a ¼" seam allowance. Press the seam open. Continue adding strips in this manner until you have a long pieced strip.
4. Cut the strips: Use a rotary cutter and quilting ruler to cut the pieced strip into shorter strips of varying widths. Cut at an angle to create the zigzag Mountains effect.
5. Arrange the shorter strips: Experiment with different arrangements of the shorter strips until you find a pattern you like.
6. Sew the strips together: Sew the shorter strips together, right sides facing, with a ¼" seam allowance. Press the seams open.
7. Repeat: Repeat steps 4–6 with the remaining pieced strips until you have as many blocks as needed.
8. Assemble the quilt: Arrange the blocks and sew them together with a ¼" seam allowance. Add batting and backing fabric.
9. Quilt and finish: Quilt the layers together using your preferred method, then bind the edges to finish.

Experiment with different color combinations and strip arrangements to create a truly unique Mountains design.

Part 2: How to Sew a Nine Patch Quilt Block

The secret to a perfect nine patch is pressing seams so they butt together neatly when joined.

Method 1: Individual Squares

1. Cut 5 A squares and 4 B squares in your required size.
2. Using chain piecing, join a B square to 3 of the A squares, right sides together, with a ¼" seam allowance. No need to press just yet.

The result will be:

3. Take the remaining A and B squares and, using chain piecing, join them to these units, right sides together, with a ¼" seam allowance.

Your result will be:

Method 2: Strip Piecing (Faster)

Cut A and B strips to the appropriate width and join them into A/B/A and B/A/B units. Note: you will need twice the length of B/A/B strips, as there are two of these units. Sew right sides together with a ¼" seam allowance and press every seam toward the dark fabric.

Cut across your pre-joined strips to create the units needed for the nine patch:

You will achieve the same result as Method 1, but faster. For a standard nine patch, the width of the unit cut from pre-joined strips equals the width of the original strips.

Assembling the Nine Patch

1. Press all seams toward the dark fabric so they butt up neatly.
2. Join the B/A/B units to your A/B/A units with butted seams, right sides together, with a ¼" seam allowance.
3. The direction of the final central seam is optional — press to facilitate butting the seam joints based on the block's placement in the larger quilt.

Wider Application

Just like the four patch, you can apply this methodology to all kinds of nine patch blocks. As long as a block has an underlying 3×3 grid — no matter how many pieces — the basic principle applies. Keep pressing seams in pairs of opposite directions and piecing will be smooth sailing.

Try these blocks — each has an underlying 3×3 grid and can be pieced as a nine patch:

Sometimes it's not obvious which direction is “dark” with complicated blocks. Just remember the basic pressing plan:

How to Resize Quilt Blocks

The first step in modifying any quilt block is to decide on your finished block size. You can base this on doubling a pattern, cutting it in half, or working with your available fabric.

Note: When working from a pattern's cutting instructions, remove the seam allowance before scaling. For example, if your pattern calls for 3½″ squares, subtract the seam allowance (½″), double the finished size (3″ → 6″), then add the seam allowance back (½″) — giving you a 6½″ cut piece.

Resizing Square Blocks

Add ½″ to your finished block measurement. For a 4″ finished square, cut a 4½″ square of fabric.

Resizing Rectangular Blocks

Add ½″ to both the length and width. To double a 3″ × 4″ block, cut a 6½″ × 8½″ rectangle.

Resizing Half-Square Triangle Blocks

Add 7/8″ to the desired finished block size. For a 4″ finished HST block, cut 4⅞″ squares.

Resizing Quarter Square Triangle Blocks

Add 1¼″ to the desired finished block size. For a 4″ finished block, cut 5¼″ squares.