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.”
I love rainbows and quilts, how have I not done this myself yet??
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I love the rainbow colors and the quilt turn out FANTASTIC! I’m definitely interested 🙂
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What a gorgeous quilt! I would love to make this!
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I’m almost finished making my second quilt ever. This looks like a great third!!
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Fabric for a rainbow quilt? I’m in!
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Those colors are gorgeous! I love rainbow colors and this quilt is just beautiful!!
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I love quilting but all of my quilts have been black, gray and white. Maybe this will give me that push into color fabric that I need! Thank you!
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This quilt is amazing and you are so inspiring! Thank you for continuing to put good vibes out into the world!
Cheers! Elise
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My email was wrong. Relisted correctly on this post
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Beautiful, just beautiful! The colors are stunning just like a rainbow! Thanks for the chance to win. I’m due for another quilt project.
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Love it! Pick me.
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I am interested. I love to quilt.
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I love the simple style – can’t go wrong with squares! And your “take it as it comes approach” is fabulous! And who doesn’t love a give away. Awesome!
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This is amazing! We’re expecting a little one in seven weeks, and I am nesting majorly! Would love to make this baby a similar quilt! So bright and cheery!
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Just beautiful. Love the colors!
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I love your rainbow quilt, Elise! I would love to win your rainbow squares to make my own- this would be a great kickstart to get me back into quilting after a failed attempt at a foundation pieced quilt a few years ago.
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GREAT job!!!! It turned out gorgeous! Can’t wait to see pics of you and your pixies enjoying it for years to come! 🙂
I would LOVE to use the squares for a weighted blanket for my little guy for occupational therapy. Thanks for the chance! 🙂
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I’d love to make one of these!
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Oh yes please! I need a super simple quilt under my belt to give me the push I need to finish the triangle quilt I started like 18 months ago. 😳 plus my color obsessed kiddos would flip over this beauty.
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Looks like an awesome quilt! I’ve been itching to make another one, but haven’t brought myself to starting one because of the commitment (I can only squeeze in an hour or two of crafting couple/few nights a week).
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Your quilt turned out beautifully! I’d love to try my hand at making one.
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This looks like so much fun! I think the striped quilting looks great!
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So so fun!! Rainbow lover here!!
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Pick me! I’m new to quilting and just finished my second quilt! Obsessed!
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This quilt is so awesome! I haven’t made a quilt in a few years and yours is definitely inspiring me to pull out my sewing machine. Love the fabrics you chose and would love to win a set. Thanks so much for the chance!
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I never win anything. And I’ve never quilted. Wouldn’t it be a tremendous surprise if I had to dust off my moms old sewing machine after all these years? My two little girls would love it.
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I love this! I love your thought on forgetting the imperfection at some point. I feel the same way about my quilts. I have a lot of quilts already, so if I were lucky enough to win a bundle, I would probably make a quilt to donate to our local pregnancy resource center.
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I would love to make a rainbow quilt! So generous of you to do the cutting and then give the sets away!
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This quilt turned out so cute! It definitely makes me want to get sewing.
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So fun. I have wanted to try a quilting project and this would be such an awesome way to start!
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Wow, it turned out great. I would love to win the fabrics, thanks for the opportunity!
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Love, love, love this. Quilting has been high on my to try list and this makes it look doable!
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I’ve been wanting to make a quilt and rainbow colors are my favorite!! 🌈 Yours looks great!
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Oh!!! I want to play with the rainbow!! :))
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Beautiful. You make it so easy. Thanks for your generous giveaway.
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Ohhh I am following you on instagram and i am crazy over this quilt. I admire how quick you finished it! You are a true inspiration!
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I ADORE this quilt and would be ecstatic to win!
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Oh Elise, it’s BEAUTIFUL. I loved seeing your progress throughout the process, and the finished product is so lovely + joyful. I would be so excited to win the fabric!! Thank you for the rad opportunity. xoxo
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I bet my daughter would love this fun quilt for laying outside in the grass. Would love a stack of squares!
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I love this quilt!!! And with squares that big it may actually get finished! Thanks for the inspiration and the giveaway!!!
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I LOVE these fabrics and would be so excited to win this giveaway to make a quilt for my nieces! Thanks for the chance to win. 🙂
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This is beautiful, and as always, your speed and execution have given me motivation to just start quilting myself! I can’t wait to try this one!
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This is absolutely gorgeous! I would love to win a stack of fabric to make one with. Thanks for sharing!
Pedita Hall
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This is like 90 kinds of totally amazing!! I love love love the quilt. Amazing how fast you got it together. You are an inspiration. Really. This makes me so happy!
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Would love to win! Never made a quilt… Hopefully this will be easy enough 😘
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This quilt turned out awesome! You’re quilting projects were the reason I decided to give quilting a go myself! I’d love to win a set of rainbow colors to make one of these!
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Wow! I must say that after a long day of work, this post was extremely uplifting! What a fun and colorful quilt! I’d love to make one of these. It’d be so great to start a project like this that I can work on after work! Thanks for sharing!
Laura
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I love this so much! Would love to have the top fabric to make one of my own!
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Yes please! I love a good rainbow and this looks like the perfect project to get my quilting mojo back.
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This will be fun to cuddle under with a newborn. 🙂
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