Friday, September 22, 2017

See Squared

So remember when I shared the (extremely late) start to my Bella Challenge Quilt over here . . . Well today I am so super excited to share my finished Bella Challenge Quilt with all of its tiny piecing goodness.  It's called See Squared and I just love it!!!!   Oh, and since it happens to be Bloggers Quilt Festival as well, and I haven't missed a BQF in years, I am sharing it over there too ;)


See Squared was such a wonderfully fun quilt to make!!!  Everyone working on the challenge was given the parameters of using the same 12 colors of Bella Solids to create their quilt from.  I was immediately reminded or Legos and Rubik's cubes from my childhood when I saw these colors and set out to create something that was inspired by both.   The idea evolved into squares made of squares creating a fun, individual, pix-elated look for each of the 45 squares in to quilt top.


To achieve this look in a super speedy kind of way, since I waited so long to start my quilt, I opted for some serious strip piecing.   I cut my fat quarters into strips ranging from 1" to 2 1/2" varying the sizes by 1/4" and then sewed them up into groups of similar sizes.


Then, once they were all pressed, I sub-cut them into small strips the same width as their unfinished strip.  So ya, lots and lots of strips of tiny squares.


Then I sewed each of the sub-cut small strips into a super long strip ready to start piecing the blocks with.   I just loved seeing the strips laid out like this.   It so reminded me of large Lego stacks I used to make for hours playing with the color patterns ;)


To make the blocks, I simply used the strips of squares and pieced them in a log cabin layout around some white squares, alternating the size squares I used in each layer of the block.     Once all the blocks were made (an audiobook and a half later)  I added some white sashing and then trimmed each block 12 1/2" square ready to be sewn into the quilt top.  


I love that using a variety of sized center squares and patchwork squares made each block unique.  It adds so much visual variety while still having the structure of a square made of squares which makes my accountant brain happy :)   This was one of my favorite finished blocks just because the color graduation ended up being so cool, totally by coincidence of course ;)


And this is my all time favorite block, mostly because it is just lots and lots of super tiny piecing.   Each of those squares measure 1/2" finished and there are 4 layers.  And you know how I just love tiny piecing.   So cute!!!


When it came time to quilt this, I decided to stick with the ideas of tiny squares and quilt a 1/2" square grid across the entire quilt.   And I just love it!!!  I quilted all of the horizontal lines using the channel locks on the long arm, and then reloaded the quilt the opposite direction and quilted all of the vertical lines.  And yes, I got a whole lot of step in to quilt this one :)  But I am just so happy with how much it adds to the squared concept of the quilt.  Yippee!!!


And of course, with a 1/2" grid, the texture is just amazing!!!!   I really does make you See Squared ;)  Just so much fun!!!


Oh,and I can't forget to share the back of the quilt!!!  I had some leftover strips from all of that tiny square piecing and decided it would be perfect to add a fun little element to the back of the quilt.   So, here it is.   A little pop of color to keep the back just as fun as the front.


And that is my See Squared quilt!!!  I am so glad that I decided to make this up, even if it was at the last minute.  It was so much fun to push myself out of my creative comfort zone with these super bold Bella solids and with this bold design.   I don't have any expectations for the challenge itself, but I am just so happy I quilted along as I am just thrilled with the finish and how much it pushed me to think and work in a new creative way.


And thank you so much for popping in today and sharing this See Squared finish with me ;)  I just love having this amazing place to be able to share my creative quilt journey with each of you!!!

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Linking up this finish to Bloggers Quilt Festival, Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's :)
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31 comments:

  1. Wow! My eye/mind boggles at the squares, but this is terrific. Wouldn't this make some Lego enthusiast happy?!

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  2. Yay! I finally get to see your finished quilt. I can't believe how fast you were able to make this quilt. I labored for 6 weeks! But really I'm just a slow poke. Love how the quilt turned out. Couldn't imagine what you were going to make with those strips. Awesome quilt!

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  3. That is so cool!! SO COOL!! We had 5 boys and Legos were part of our life. We still have a rubbermade bin pretty full and the gradkids love to build with them. I learned over the years, to spread a blanket down first (lighter solid color, so you can see the legos) and when your done, gather up the blanket and pour into bin. I can still hear that sound of pouring legos!

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  4. Oh My Goodness , lots of cutting and sewing but such amazing quilt.. Love it....

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  5. Oh that is amazing! Wonderful colour and thanks for showing the process. One to keep and admire for sure.

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  6. Okay....so I'm always really curious about quilts quilted that densely: Does it make it really heavy with all the thread? Cool quilt!

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  7. Working with lots of colours has made this quilt very interesting but your grid quilting has really topped it off. It looks great!

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  8. That's just lovely - what a fun quilt to do!

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  9. This is a really cool - and also beautiful - quilt! And, I just LOVE how happy you are that you made it! That's wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing your quilt and your joy with us! �� I could actually imagine trying to make a quilt like this or similar to it, except I'd never be able to get it quilted like that! I love the way yours looks and it's a really cool effect! But I don't do my own quilting, and it would be WAY too expensive to pay somebody to custom quilt a quilt like that. Nevertheless, I think the quilt would still look good quilted with an overall kind of pattern, even if it was less effective than what you've done.
    Congratulations on a super quilt!

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  10. Melissa this is fantastic. The small strip pieces are beautiful all hanging together. The small cross hatch quilting is my favorite and it looks perfect. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. This is wonderful. So bright and happy!

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  12. So many little pieces! I love what you did with the back (of course, the front looks very cool!).

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  13. Melissa,you've done a great job!so beautiful and joyful!I can't stop watching pics!are these colorful pieces from cotton?adore your quilt!

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  14. Definitely a "Happy" quilt. I love the piecing and the quilting!

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  15. This is an amazing quilt! I just love everything about it, you did a wonderful job!

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  16. Wow wow wow!! This is spectacular!! Wow!

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  17. Wow! What a fab idea! I never would have thought of that!

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  18. Yow!! Tons of piecing and tons of quilting: but it looks great!! I love the blocks in your close-up pictures. :-) Hugs, H

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  19. You should be proud of this one. Very creative mind at work. Unless you told us I could not tell the centers were different sizes...too focused on the color. :)

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  20. I love this quilt. It's fun and beautiful and I could look at it for hours. Yes, it looks like Legos and Rubik's Cube. The quilting you chose is right on point. The back is the icing on the cake!
    Bravo!!

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  21. Melissa, this quilt is wonderful! Lots of little pieces made easy with the strips. The lego effect is great. I just might have to make one of these.

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  22. I've never thought of piecing like that for "made fabric" from which to cut block components. Thanks for suggesting a new approach!

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  23. Melissa, this quilt is incredible. I love it.
    You are very inspiring, I want to make a quilt like this with all of my scraps

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  24. Wow! This is so fun a and you made it doable. My kids would love it!

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  25. This is beautiful. I love the strip on the back. Well done.

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  26. What a stunner, I love these blocks

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  27. Dear Melissa - just let me tell you how much I love this quilt. It's simply perfect, the colours, the pattern, all those tiny squares, the layout, the quilting - just everything. You have done a phantastic job! Congratulations!

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Thank you so much for your sweet comments. I just love hearing from you!!
Have a Happy Quilting Day :)

Melissa