It's Hip to be Square

I finished up another quilt top that has been hanging in my closet for awhile. This one is called "It's Hip to be Square." I thought this was an appropriate name for the quilt because the fabrics, which are from Liz Scott's Sugar Pop line, are retro inspired and the quilt is made up of 5 inch charm squares.

Because the quilt is such a simple design, I really wanted to do something different with the quilting to make the fabrics pop. I still used straight lines, but instead of quilting the entire quilt with lines, I used them to enhance the square design of the quilt. I stitched both horizontal and vertical lines in the sashing between the squares and then I quilted continuous lines around the borders. I also used echo quilting by stitching about a 1/4 inch within each square. The quilting was more work than I expected it to be, but I am thrilled with the results. I love how the quilting draws your eye to the focus of the quilt, which are the squares.

Here's a closeup of the quilting. One great thing about straight line quilting is that once your quilt is washed and dried, a lot of your stitching flaws disappear!

The back is pieced, of course. I have a hard time not piecing a back- I just love how it adds something extra to the quilt. And, you can't see him but my husband is standing behind the quilt. I coerced him into helping me with my photo session this morning while he was getting coffee in the kitchen!

I take a lot of pictures of my quilts (I'm sure you've noticed), but one of my favorite shots is of the quilt casually folded, like it's sitting there waiting to be used. My quilts are definitely made to be used, and I think this one found its first user....

My Sadie seems to really like this quilt. Either that or she was jealous that I was taking pictures of my quilt and not paying any attention to her. Just look at that face! Those puppy dog eyes get me every time.