Safe to say this is the EASIEST quilt I've ever completed. Highly recommend if you are new to quilting and looking for something high-impact and fun to start with. The hardest part was actually picking out the colored fabrics, but because I love a rainbow, that was the most fun part too.
I bought 1/3 yard of 36 different colors. This was not the most economical way to go about it, but I was very picky about my colors and so I couldn't just buy a bundle of rainbow fat quarters. I do, however, have enough fabric to make four rainbow quilts, so if you were going to make a bunch to give as gifts or something, this would be ideal. (I'm going to give away three of the stacks of fabric so three of you can make a similar quilt – details at the end of this post.)
I cut the fabric into squares that were 10×10 inches using a cutting mat, ruler and rotary trimmer. After a million triangle quilts, cutting squares (especially this large) was so easy and enjoyable.
I laid it all out to be sure I had the order right. I wanted to go red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple horizontally and then have it fade from darkest to lightest vertically. I sewed each rainbow together so I had six strips of six squares each and then ironed my creases open and pinned it together. Because there were so few corners to line up, this one actually came together pretty neatly.
I screwed up a bit and cut my backing fabric too small. I went with a white extra wide cotton backing but didn't quite give myself enough wiggle room and over the course of sewing all those lines, it shifted a bit which meant I had to lose some of the front to even it out (you'll notice that the darkest red square in particular is smaller than the others). This sort of thing always bothers me at the time, but I know from experience that months (or even days) from now when we're actually using the quilt, it's not the sort of thing I'll notice or worry about.
To give it a bit of dimension, I quilted tons of horizontal lines across the surface. The thread on the top is white and then I alternated the color in the bobbin so the thread on the backing was multi-colored in a rainbow. It's VERY subtle. Too subtle to be worth it, I'd say. In photos it looks particularly lame. In person you can kind of see, but you really have to look for the color change. If I did it again I would probably just use all one color or even just white.
The finished quilt is about 55×55 inches though it will shrink a bit when I wash it. I bound it in gray stripe but black and white stripe would have looked awesome too.
Overall – it's one of my top ten favorite projects. I'm taking Ellerie to the park tonight for a picnic to break it in.
And now! The giveaway! As mentioned, I have enough fabric for four quilt tops and I only made one. So I have THREE stacks of rainbow squares that are already cut to 10×10 inches. You'd need your own batting, binding and backing fabric but you'd be at least partway there if you won. Please leave a comment if you're interested. I'll draw three winners by the weekend and will ship anywhere.
GIVEAWAY CLOSED, drawing winners now and will announce Saturday AM.
enJOY it 
1,233 responses to “super simple rainbow quilt.”
Beautiful work! I just moved to a new apartment and set up my machine — so excited to get some ideas out of my brain and onto fabric 😀
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Beautiful! Love this and would so break out the sewing machine to make one!
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oh, I would love to sew up a rainbow quilt. great work and thanks for the opportunity. 🙂
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Love it! I have been so wanting to take the quilting plunge. This would be a colorful way to start!
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I would love to win one of these sets of fabric! I’m just learning how to quilt and this seems like it would be a beautiful begginer project and fun for my 18 month old to have and use! Thanks for always offering such fun giveaways!
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Interested! So cool!
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Beautiful quilt! I love nice and easy, that means it’s more likely to actually get done. And sometimes simple is just so restful to the eye.
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This is a beautiful quilt. I’d love to win the fabric.
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Beautiful quilt and a great giveaway! thanks for the chance.
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This is so pretty! Love the colors! I would love to make a rainbow quilt — ask my husband; I’ve ben talking about it all day.
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Thank you for sharing your creativity, it is a very quilt.
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Love this! Would love to use this as inspiration for my first quilt.
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Soooo…I’m not a quilter…or a crafter of any sort. What I am is a daydreamer who dreams of being quilty/crafty some day. Maybe this project could be what actually pulls me into the unfamiliar territory of creativity. I know this might be a dumb question, but can this quilt be done with a regular sewing machine? Or is there other quilting equipment needed for sewing through the thicker layers or on such a large project?
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This would be so rad. Thanks for giving us a shot at winning a set! 🙂
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What a great idea for a quilt – love it!! I think I could do this! Just learning how to not be afraid of my sewing machine in my 50s 😉
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Love this so much!
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I’m interested! Love it and how quickly you get your concepts from idea to completion! It’s inspiring me to jump on my get it done list. Sometimes you just have to make the space to DO IT.
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This is so pretty. What a fun idea! I’d love to give it a shot.
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I love this! I think this might be my favorite of all of your quilts to date!
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Love the subtle rainbow colors! It looks really cute and if love to win and sew one like it to brighten our home. I’ve sewn a couple of quilts – all squares and I love the simplicity.
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I wanna win! Such a fun bunch of fabric! Also lovely quilt that you made 🙂
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❤ ❤ ❤ I love it. ❤ ❤ ❤
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Aaaah! This would be perfect for my first quilt!! Looks so great 🙂
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Lovely quilt. I have never quilted before, have a sewing machine and would love to give this a try! Thanks for the chance to win the fabric!
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My mom has been making quilts forever, hand quilting all of them, and I just started teaching my girls to do a little sewing. This will be the perfect way to teach them to make a quilt.
Thanks for the inspiration!
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What an awesome quilt! I’d love to have a go, but the thought of having to cut perfect squares/triangles scares me! I’d love to have a go with some pre cut squares & rainbow is my absolute favourite colour!
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You did it Elise :)!!! I was watching your progress during the weekend on IG and I was like: she told us and she did it, good job ;)! I would like to try it myself, maybe not as fast as you but will be awesome If you share one stack of the colorful rainbow squares that you have!…greetings from Mexico!!
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wow! i am so intimidated by quilting and would love to give this a try!
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Tremendously generous giveaway! My mom made both of my boys quilts… I’d love to have her help making this one for baby #3!
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I love this quilt.
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This quilt is such a bounty of joy. It actually makes me feel like I could make a quilt because of your explanations and detail. I love the colors and can’t imagine the time it took for such an effort but the looks it was worth it.
What fun.
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Beautifully done! Thanks for the chance to make one of my own!
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came out great! :o) Would love to try it myself!
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Lately I have had the urge to try and make my first quilt. This would be the perfect opportunity! So fun!
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What a great giveaway!! I love your gorgeous quilt. Thank you for sharing!
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Your projects are always so fun, but this one might just be my all time favorite !!!!!
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Looks amazing! I’ve been wanting to make a quilt and always seem to get hung up on choosing fabric.
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I am so excited about this giveaway! Thanks for sharing.
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So awesome! I would love to win this! Cutting is my least favorite part, but I love the sewing of a quilt! Thanks for the chance to win!
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Your quilt looks awesome and I love how you added texture with those seams. I am convinced it would make a great (very new) beginners project, so fingers crossed over here;)
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I so want to make one of these!!! I would love to win! Thanks for the giveaway!
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What a perfect picnic quilt! I’ve never quilted before, but you (and all those fun horizontal lines) have inspired me to try! 🙂 Would love to win the fabric because I’m not sure my little (one day older than Ellerie) would last long enough to pick and cut a rainbow of colors in the fabric store. 😉
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Oh, wow, this is beautiful. I would love to make a quilt just like that one for our first baby (due in Feb.). And the squares already cut? That’s just a dream come true. 🙂
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This is an amazing project! I have been looking to get into quilting for a long time and this looks like the perfect first project. Thank you so much for sharing and for your generosity!
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How kind of you! And already cut! My daughter has taken an interest in sewing lately so this would be a great project to do together – winner or not.
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I’d Love to win a stack!
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Me please! One of my girlfriend’s just had a Baby Boy (Felix!) and her Nursery is Rainbow themed, this quilt would be the cutest thing!
xx
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Goodness, I love this quilt! So simple but SO effective! Would love to make a rainbow quilt – rainbows mean a lot to me.
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Yes please!
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Your quilt rocks!!
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