Perfect Quilt of Perfect Squares

A year or so ago, I saw a book of mathematics-derived patterns for crafting. One that appealed to me immediately was drafted for cross stitch, but I thought I could easily adapt it for quilting. It's based on the concept of "perfect square dissection," in which a square is divided into smaller squares all of different sizes. Easy peasy.


I decided to make the 21-square version, with all numbers divided in two to make reasonable size patches that finish into a 56-inch square quilt. I had a bunch of black and whites that I'd been collecting for nothing in particular, so I started pressing and cutting and had the pieces ready in only a few hours. (Hey, there are only 21 pieces in this quilt!) I spent a little extra time embroidering the Ganesh figure in black thread on white Kona, because I thought it balanced the batik panel that my friend Sara had given me, and I really like that Ganesh design -- it's also on my dining room in gold thread on a rich red valance. The whole top went together in only a couple of hours; the only slightly tricky part was figuring out which partial seams to sew, and in which order.


This top sat in my UFO bin for about a year, but I have been making good progress through that bin, so its number was up. I basted it two weeks ago, and quilted a very simple meander over the whole thing using Sulky Blendables in the "Piano Keys" color. I switched to plain black for the batik panel and plain white for the Ganesh square.

"Perfect Squares" (56 x 56")

Summary: I stone cold love how this came out. I'm eager to make this in different colors, from primary solids to Kaffe Fassett prints to batiks. I see this particular prototype as a wall hanging, but it would also be perfect for a baby in a sufficiently geeky family (Perfect Squares for the Perfect Baby!) I am planning to write up this pattern in case anyone else wants to make one.