Imagination, Squared

Taking a quick break this afternoon while the kids are napping to share my latest finish for the Imagine Circle of Do Good Stitches. (Sidenote: Anyone know how to make the actual "squared" symbol?)

 In April, I asked the members of our circle to make this paper-pieced Square-in-Square block by Tamiko using a palette of navy, coral, yellow, aqua, and white/grey prints.  I was so excited when the blocks started coming in, because they were all so much fun. I didn't specifically request fussy cuts for the centers, but several people did just that and made some seriously cute blocks. Isn't this one from Amanda sweet?

 

I didn't take me long to get them all sewn together. I had originally planned to use this Ikea numbers print for the backing, but a few of the blocks came in too small to fit well with the others. Since that would have made our quilt a little smaller than desired, I went ahead and decided to add the borders to bring it up to a better size. I really could not decide on what to use, but chose to go with the Ikea fabric. I still haven't decided if it was the right call, but it is growing on me. 

 

I thought that using more of the numbers print would be a little much, so for the backing I used the other blocks along with quite a few of the greys in my stash, plus some Kona Azure, Kona Ochre, and the coral which I believe is Michael Miller. It is pretty wrinkly in the photo, but I didn't have time to really get it photo-shoot ready. I have to take my pictures when the resident quilt-holder is available and this time of year, that is pretty rare!  

For the quilting, I thought it would be cool to highlight one of the blocks and the surrounding star shape. I had a hard time choosing, but in the end decided to focus on the Itsy Bitsy Spider block because I thought the surrounding prints made the star pattern stand out a little more than the others. I quilted double lines around the star, then echo-quilted single line a few inches apart in the rest of the space. It didn't really turn out as I had hoped, since the front is busy and the quilting kind of gets lost. 

Overall, I'm pleased with how the quilt turned out. This is my third one for the Imagine Circle and I am already plotting what to do for my fourth. If you have any spare time to join, I highly recommend putting your name on the list for do.Good Stitches. I'll be sending this one off to our charity, Threading Hope, which benefits underprivileged children and families around the world.