Bargello-Style Strips Quilted Over Cotton Batting Before You Cut

Hey everyone. Today you'll make a bargello-style panel where you quilt first, then cut.

That sounds backwards. I know.

Normal bargello goes like this. You sew strips. You cut them crosswise. You shift them up and down. Then you quilt the whole thing at the end.

Here we flip the order. We layer the strip set over cotton batting. We quilt straight lines along the strips. Then we cut and re-sew. Just like that, those straight quilting lines break into steps. And steps make the wave.

Here we go.

Why cotton batting makes this work

You need batting that stays flat. Really really flat.

Cotton batting is low loft. It does not puff up much. That matters twice here. First, your quilted panel still feeds under the foot after cutting. Second, your re-sewn seams do not turn into speed bumps.

High-loft batting? Save it for another day. It will fight you at every join. A thin cotton layer gives you soft stitch definition. And it keeps the panel flexible enough to cut clean.

We're not reinventing the wheel here. We're just quilting earlier than usual.

Materials

• 6 to 8 cotton fabrics in a clear light-to-dark run, 1/4 yard each
• 1 piece low-loft cotton batting, about 24 by 44 inches
• 1 backing fabric, about 24 by 44 inches
• Cotton thread, 50-weight for piecing
• A slightly heavier quilting thread if you want the lines to show
• Walking foot and a size 80/12 needle to start
• Rotary cutter, long ruler, pins or basting spray
• Binding fabric, about 1/4 yard

Pick your fabrics with contrast. The wave only reads if neighbors differ. If two fabrics match too closely, the step between them disappears. Hold them at arm's length. Squint a little. You will see the problem fabrics fast.

How to make it

1. Cut your strips. Cut one strip from each fabric, 2 1/2 inches wide by the width of fabric. Keep them in light-to-dark order. Do not shuffle them yet.
2. Sew the strip set. Join the strips lengthwise with a 1/4-inch seam. Press all seams the same direction. Your panel should finish about 14 1/2 inches wide if you used 7 strips. Close is fine.
3. Build the sandwich. Lay backing wrong side up. Lay cotton batting next. Lay the strip set right side up. Smooth from the center out. Pin every 4 to 5 inches, or baste lightly.
4. Quilt along the strips. Use your walking foot. Set stitch length to about 3.0. Stitch in the ditch between strips, or 1/4 inch from each seam. Run every line the full length of the panel. Keep the quilting simple and straight. Dense quilting now makes re-sewing hard later. Slow down at seam crossings or the needle can deflect.
5. Trim the panel square. Trim the long edges straight. Trim the ends square, too. A wobbly edge now becomes a wobbly wave later. Take your time. It's not a race.
6. Cut crosswise strips. Cut across the quilted panel. Vary the widths on purpose. Try 2 inches, then 1 1/2 inches, then 1 inch, then back up again. Narrow strips make a tight, busy wave. Wide strips make a slow, calm wave. Completely up to you.
7. Shift to make the wave. Lay the cut strips side by side. Move each new strip up by one fabric. Then move the next one up by one more. When you reach the top, start coming back down. That up-and-down shift is the whole bargello trick. Number the strips on the back with chalk. Trust me on this one. I skipped the numbers once. Oh my goodness. I sewed the wave backwards twice.
8. Re-sew the quilted strips. Place two strips right sides together. Pin well. Stitch with a 1/4-inch seam and your walking foot. Go slow. The batting makes the layers thicker than plain fabric. If a seam feels bulky, trim the batting back a tiny bit from the seam allowance before stitching. Press seams open to spread the bulk. Add strips in order until the panel is whole again.
9. Finish the edges. Trim the top and bottom. You will have a stepped edge from all that shifting. Trim straight across, or keep one stepped edge as a design choice. Bind as you would any small quilt. A finished size around 14 by 36 inches makes a super duper fun table runner.

Tips and variations

Make a test first. Use four scrap fabrics and a batting offcut. Quilt it, cut it, shift it. Ten minutes of testing tells you if your batting is thin enough. That is the test that matters.

Want a stronger wave? Add more fabrics. Or repeat your light-to-dark run twice in one strip set. The eye reads the repeat as a second hill.

Want the quilting to shine? Use a contrasting thread for those lengthwise lines. After cutting, the lines step across the panel. That broken line is the charm of this version.

Watch your wash plan. Cotton batting can shrink a little. If your fabrics are prewashed and the batting is not, expect a soft crinkle after washing. Plenty of folks love that look. If you want it flatter, test a scrap first.

And remember the permission beat. Your steps do not have to line up perfectly. A little drift reads as movement. You're your own worst critic here. Step back three feet before you judge it. If I can do this, y'all can do this.

I reach for a packaged 100% cotton batting for a panel like this. It lies flat. It cuts clean. And I have used it in the McKinney store classroom projects, so I know how it behaves under the walking foot. That personal proof matters more than any label.

Thanks for sewing along with me, folks. We'll see you next time. Bye.

Shop Hobbs Heirloom 100% Cotton Batting Package at Linda's Electric Quilters.