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’d love to win this! I’ve been dying to quilt but my perfectionist nature is holding me back from making the inevitable mistakes! 🙂 Have a lovely picnic with the little lady 🙂
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I would LOVE to win the rainbow fabric! Thanks for the chance!!
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It is beautiful! I would be interested in making one!
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Very awesome home run of a quilt!
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I love that even though it’s not perfect, you share it with us anyway! I can guarantee that if I were to win and make this quilt it would be nowhere near perfect, but I would be so in love with it too! Fabulous job and thank you for sharing!
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Would love to win. I’m just learning to quilt. Working on my second baby quilt now and need to make two more. This would be helpful 😊
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The quilt turned out great! Love the colors and would love to make one for myself. Thank you for the giveaway and chance to win 🙂
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I LOVE rainbow anything and need a new fun fall project in my life! This would be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Thank you for the chance and as alway thank you for your inspiration!
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It’s beautiful. I would love to make one too!
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This just makes me happy!
Carrie
http://www.wearwherewell.com
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Wow, I love this quilt! It really inspires me to get back to quilting. I haven’t quilted in a long time, and this may be the project the gets me going again. I would love to win a set of your squares! Thanks for the inspiration!!
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I would love to make one of these quilts for my daughter. She is 19 months and learning all the names of colors, so this would be perfect. Thank you for the awesome post and tutorial as usual!
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Well done! I know someone who would love this! Enjoy your picnic!
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I would LOVE to make this. My rainbow-obsessed daughter has already claimed this as an essential thing for her. Thanks for the inspiration!
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What a gorgeous blanket!! I would LOVE a chance to win some fabric! 🙂
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Great giveaway! I would love to make this quilt. Great idea.
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It looks great. I’ve never made a quilt but I’d be willing try for a rainbow one. Have sewing machine. Will learn!
Thanks
Denise
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LOVE it!!! Would love to win the fabric. Will make 2 for my daughters (age 2 and newborn :).
Thanks for the inspiration.
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with baby #2 on the way I’d love to makes rainbow quilt. We kind of have rainbows in our dna here, we own a buisness in Alaska called rainbow tours & our boat is rainbow colored called the rainbow connection (yes, after the muppet song)
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What a lovely idea with the colour gradients! I would love to win one of the sets. Where I live in Botswana you cannot buy fabric like this.
Stunning job
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I LOVE this quilt. Awesome inspiration. Enjoy your quilt!
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Off course I’m interested!!
I love the result! And the colors! And how easy it seems!! I wasn’t very lucky with triangles or rectangles. I should give squares a try!! Count me in!!
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Goodness, this is adorable! I would love to make one. Count me in!
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I would love to have a rainbow quilt in my life!!! What a fun project!
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Love, love, love it!!! great work, elise!
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You are a wonderful inspiration to all of us – pregnant with your second daughter and making a quilt in less than a week. Wow! I have never sewn with solids before and I really like the impact of dark to light in each row. Great idea using lots of lines for your quilting. Congrats on baby #2.
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I’ve never made a quilt (only knitted blankets), but this looks like a great first project!
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I would love to win! This came out beautifully.
I never suspected it wouldn’t though 🙂
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Beautiful! I would love a chance to replicate this quilt. I purchased your Get Quilty e-course nearly 2 years ago, but haven’t tried a quilt yet. This could be my chance! Thank you!
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Love it! I want one! Thanks for sharing.
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Totally in for the win! I saw the colors on instagram last weekend and was in love already! I’d really like to have my own!!
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I’ve been wanting to try a quilt – this would be a great first project. So fun!
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I would love to win this bundle. I am currently on the hunt for a quilt idea for Niece number 4, as it is soon to be her 1st birthday and I have made each of my nieces a quilt for this milestone. This would be completely perfect. I am thinking maybe cloud shaped quilting to echo a rainbow theme and put mu own little spin on it.
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I’m finishing up my very first (and very simple!) quilt and I would LOVE to make a rainbow quilt like this next!
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Love it~!
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Beautiful! This would make a lovely baby shower gift.
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I’ve started a couple quilts and never finished the tops – too many pieces! This seems like the perfect place to start. And who doesn’t love a rainbow?!
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I just completed your free style triangle quilt… I’m definitely doing this one next. Thanks as always for the awesome inspiration.
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Beautiful quilt! Your creativity is very inspiring. I would love the chance to make one!
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looks awesome! would love to make this quilt!
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Wow, the quilt turned out awesome (love the horizontal quilting). It would be wonderful to win one of the stacks of fabrics to make my own (I’ve been pinning but haven’t made a quilt yet…THIS one looks like I could do it too). Thanks for chance to win.
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I’m amazed at your ‘get it done’ skills. Enjoy your picnic, and thanks for the giveaway!
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It’s beautiful! I’ve always wanted to try my hand (sewing machine)at quilting!
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This is a dream project! Thanks for the chance to win!
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I love a rainbow & a simple quilting project, this one would bring some colour to the winter ahead.
Thank you for sharing.
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Could this be my first quilt (after I purchased your quilting ecourse in advance – I will get my mothers old sewing machine next time I see her)? I hope it will!
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Would love to win this for my sister!!
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So very beautiful! It will experience many wonderful family events and memories!
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Would love the fabric! I took a screenshot a few days ago from Instagram for a sew together with a friend. 🙂
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So so beautiful!
Wonderful family memories will happen on that quilt! Enjoy 🙂
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