All Squared Up

We all love quilt projects where the fabric does the heavy lifting. With the right prints providing maximum impact, even the simplest block design can really shine! 

Wendy Sheppard proves that in her All Squared Up quilt, featured in the April/May issue of The Quilter magazine, which showcases the big and bold prints from Contempo's Dwellings collection. 

Just how did this quilt come to be? Keep reading--Wendy lets us in on her process.

What attracted you to Dwellings and the colorway you picked?
Since I am more traditional in my quilting style, I might not have been "attracted" to Dwellings at first.  I am more appealed by the idea of challenging myself to work outside of my comfort zone, and coming up with a pleasing quilt design.  However, the more I looked at the fabrics, the more I liked the informal feel of the print designs.  I picked a mix of green, salmon and brown because I thought the green and brown provide a nice contemporary contrast to the salmon.

Was it challenging to work with so many large prints? How did you overcome that?
Yes, it is always challenging to work with large prints because oftentimes large patches are needed to show the prints, and there are only that many "square/rectangular" blocks one can use!  For All Squared Up, I went ahead and still used large square blocks, except I used thin black framing interior border to break up the one-fabric-blocks.

Tell us about the block design.
The block is essentially a one fabric square block, except I used thin black framing interior border to break up the one-fabric-block.  The black draws the eye to zero in on the individual blocks, and thus draw the viewer to spend a bit of time looking at the fabrics.

Can you talk about your border decisions (love that stripe, sandwiched in white!)? 
That stripe print is probably my favorite swatch from the entire collection.  I feel like the quilt center looks a little busy with all the different fabrics used in the blocks. So the stripe print would probably be drowned if placed right next to the quilt center. So one way to highlight that stripe was for me to sandwiched it in white.

How did you machine quilt it?
I quilted my allover Jester's Hat motif to kind of break up the "square-ness" of the quilt.  I have discussed my Jester's Hat motif here, here, and here.

What do you like best about this quilt?
I like that it is very usable, and will instantaneous visual effect when used as a home decor item.  Drape it on a solid color couch, and you will see what I mean.

See the entire Dwellings collection here.
See more of Wendy's work, including her post about the All Squared Up quilt, here.
Find the kit for this quilt here.
Find The Quilter magazine here.