Interlocking Squares (another quilt inspired design)

I've been away for a few days - taking my younger son back to college for his sophomore year - and I am trying to catch up and post some designs that have been "waiting in the wings." (I also hope to catch up on your questions and emails quickly and I apologize if you have contacted me and not received a timely response).

This design is intended for a card front - it was inspired, once again, by a quilting design. I try to keep up with my quilting but I find that paper crafting has, for the most part, replaced working with fabric! I was working on this file when a blog reader asked me if I had any Celtic designs - this type of design with the interlocking shapes is similar to many Celtic patterns. It also has an "Arts and Crafts" look - similar to some of the designs that Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Macintosh created.

I completed this design just before the August update to the Design Studio software. Unfortunately this design is not one that I can make "adjustable" since I needed to individually size and rotate the components that make up the square to get the proportions to work correctly.



I have set up the file with four mats - on the first mat is the full design that can be cut in a single color. You can also cut the design in three layers and place them on your card in various combinations to produce many different variations.



The samples above show various combinations of two of the shapes.



When you use all three designs together you can see even more varied effects. The samples above were photographed on black paper but I thought it was a bit hard to see the dark green inner square so I also did some photos on lighter card stock.



The design is small - a bit over 2 1/2 inches square. I certainly wish I could "group" this and expand it since I would like to see it as a background for a full page. If I get a chance, I may try a larger version (or I may wait and hope for a full update that adds a true "grouping" function!). I used Plantin Schoolbook but you can replicate this in George by creating thin rectangles in the same sizes andwelding them in the same pattern. Be sure to build the design from the center outward in order to have the welds work correctly.

You could use a series of these designs along the edge of a layout to make a border - and even wind in some vines or flourishes to soften the look. I'd love to see how you incorporate this into one of your projects.

Interlocking Squares