Two Fabric Bargello quilt

I've been wanting to make a two fabric bargello quilt ever since I first saw one on Pinterest and I finally got the opportunity.  My local quilt shop got in some really nice ombre fabrics, and even though I'm not really supposed to be starting new projects from new fabrics, I bought some. 

But in an effort to keep it from being yet another UFO, I plowed straight ahead and made the quilt top.  My intention is to drop it off to be quilted this month.  I still need to buy backing fabric first.  I considered buying some when I bought the fabric for the top, but I wasn't 100% sure how much I  needed because I hadn't finalized my design yet. 

While there is a pattern available for purchase online - designed by Susie Weaver - I wanted to figure out how to do it on my own and make my own design.  (It is really similar to her Lightning Bolt layout, but not exactly the same.)  I figured it out on paper first.  Then I decided that I didn't want my strips to be quite as small as I originally figured.  Then I redesigned it on the computer. 

Here are my strips all cut, laid out, and ready to sew.  It's amazing how much width you lose by sewing it together.  (Of course, I allowed for that, but it's still amazing to see the difference.)  It's also interesting to see how different it looks with the borders added. 

You may also notice in the picture above that I carefully numbered all of my strips.  I didn't remove any of the numbers until the center was completely sewn together.  Also, to keep it from going wonky, I sewed the strips together in alternate directions.  First I sewed together pairs, sewing from top to bottom.  Then I sewed the pairs together from bottom to top.  It came out really smooth and straight that way.