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 :)