The perfect quilt for beginners As I began my quilting journey, I found myself drawn initially to quilts composed of strip sets because it was one of the easiest to construct.

As I loaded my Pinterest boards full of beautiful quilts that I might want to create, I remember first seeing a Bargello style quilt and falling in love with its pixelated look and the subtle gradation of color values. I noticed the very small pieces and thought this would be a very time consuming process, but I felt it would be worth it, so I found a pattern I felt was beginner worthy and started studying the instructions. That first pattern was by Becky Botello and was made available on my favorite learning platform at that time, Craftsy.com. It was called Tumbling Waves. I learned that this very intricate-looking process was actually not as complicated as I thought. The quilt was constructed using a process called strip-piecing.

Just a quick history lesson on Bargello is. Bargello quilts originated from needlepoint. Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a “flame stitch” or zig zag pattern.

Bargello patterns were later extended to quilts, in which the patterns used in Bargello embroidery are constructed with strips of fabric of the same height but different widths to create the same “flame stitch” effect.

In this technique the strip sets are sub-cut then the ends are joined, forming a tube which is “unsewn” at different color sections, then are joined to each other in a way that staggerst the colors.

Discovering Gelato!

Given my love for color gradation, of course it was love at first sight, when I saw my first ombre fabric. The most striking of these is the Gelato fabric collection from Maywood Fabrics.

Building BarGelato!

Using some of the techniques I learned in building Bargello quilts, I created the pattern for BarGelato. I wanted to make a quilt pattern that was beginner friendly and modern, so I added the Bargello-style strip section to a large background section, placed using the rule of thirds.

I also want to go back to my roots of using a domestic (sit down) sewing machine to do the quilting, using a continuous spiral design using my machine’s walking foot.

I created a few sample quilts using my favorite colorways I used Maywood’s Shadow Play fabric for the background and also Shadow Play in flannel, for the backing to help highlight the spiral quilting and also create a soft, cuddly texture on the back.

The Quilt Along

To share in the fun of creating this quilt, I agreed to include it as a part of a free quilt along! The quilt along is also catered toward new quilters and includes some really awesome prizes.

This prize set is the perfect setup for a new quilter, especially if you plan to make more BarGelato quilts!

Filming

A huge part of the quilt along is a multi-part video series, walking through each step of the process.

I thought about the best way to order the steps and what. I would need from a video series if I was still that new quilter, learning new techniques that would help me in building this quilt but also build my skill set for future quilts.

Being in front of the camera was a breeze, given the amazingly talented crew I was fortunate enough to work with.

I learned so much during the journey of creating this quilt. I have plans to make more variations on this same theme, so stay tuned and make sure to share your work. Let’s use the hashtag #BarGelato!.