Swirl The Rainbow - Whale Tail Bargello -

For two solid weeks, Kauaʻi did what Kauaʻi does best — it rained.

Not the polite kind of rain. The steady, sideways, soak-you-to-the-bone kind. Every morning I’d look out the window thinking, “Maybe today…” and every day the clouds answered, “Not yet.”

Which felt almost poetic, considering what I was working on.

When a batik line called Swirl A Rainbow landed in my hands, there was really only one logical choice: a Bargello. If ever there was a technique meant to mimic movement and color dancing across the sky, this was it.

Before a single seam was stitched, the ritual began. I serged the edges, washed everything on hot, dried it on hot, then starched and pressed until each piece behaved exactly as it should. Bargello does not reward laziness.

I began with 22 fabrics and narrowed it down to 20. The order mattered. The flow mattered. A Bargello is essentially choreography in cotton — and I wasn’t about to let it stumble.

Once the lineup was finalized, I sent the yardage off with Aunty Vicky (because in Hawaiʻi, everyone is an Auntie or Uncle) to run it through the die cutter into perfect 2” strips. Precision now would mean smooth sailing later.

I numbered every strip and stitched together eight sets, sewing in opposite directions to prevent warping. Then came the tube — the magical step where everything starts to feel like a reveal waiting to happen.

From there, I began the build.

Three cross-cuts at 1” started the rhythm. Then I increased each column by ¼” — 1”, 1¼”, 1½” — climbing steadily up to 3”, then easing my way back down before rising again. Up. Down. Up again. Just like the island’s rolling valleys.

Yes, I pin at every intersection. I simply cannot risk seams that don’t match. There are standards to uphold.

When the three main units were finally joined, the whale tail emerged from the movement of color — a swirl of rainbow rising from the deep. Onto the longarm it went, quilted with the Waves and Pearls design, echoing the water that surrounds us here on Kauaʻi.

And yes — I machine bound it. All of it. No apologies.

Now here is where the island decided to get involved.

Because what is a rainbow quilt without an actual rainbow?

For days the formula was wrong. We had rain — plenty of it — but wind that threatened to send my quilt sailing into the valley. The first photo attempt was a soggy failure.

So we waited.

Two more days passed. A location change was called. At dawn, we packed up and headed to the Menehune Fishpond, hoping for calmer skies and softer wind. The valley was still. The air was damp but patient.

As we began setting up…

It appeared.

A rainbow stretched itself across the valley as if it had been waiting for its cue. No dramatic storm. No chaos. Just quiet magic.

The rain and wind held off long enough to showcase my Whale Tail Bargello against the valley that cradles the fishponds. For a brief moment, fabric and sky told the same story.

The backing, of course, is Stripes C495 by Riley Blake — because even rainbows deserve a strong supporting act.

I didn’t receive any visible assistance from the Menehune while piecing this quilt… but I suspect they approved of the final reveal. They certainly handled the lighting.