Kaleidoscope Quilt featuring Kaffe Fassett fabric.
Cindy made this Kaleidoscope Quilt, combining the simplicity of a kaleidoscope block with the complexity of the “stack and whack” technique. A kaleidoscope can have many different looks. Scroll to the bottom to see other possible designs. Our favorite book is Kaleidoscope ABC’s by Marti Michell, ($22) and her Kaleido-Ruler, ($18.99)
This is what the fabric looks like. All the block centers are cut from this fabric. The corners are from Cindy’s stash. You need 8 repeats to make this quilt. (That’s about 3 1/2 yds.)
Hello Everyone,
We’ve had a good week. Some work outside, some work at the church yard sale and some sewing on old projects. Fabric orders are still way behind. Several companies are months behind in delivery.
Cindy is busy with some home improvement projects and some small sewing projects. You know, sometimes you have to step away from your sewing machine.
As I told you last week, I pulled out a bag of black and white, red, yellow and orange. The pattern inside was Twinkling Stars by Quilt Country. ($7) We still have 3 patterns left if you want one. Copyright on the pattern is 2001, if that gives you an idea how long this has been packed away! This pattern uses fat quarters. You stack your fat quarters, cut the same shapes from all the FQ, and then shuffle everything. So each fabric is a star point, a center square, a connector block, etc. Here is what I ended up with.
I ended up with a Halloween quilt. This quilt looks like candy corn to me. Not what I was expecting, but I’ve always wanted a Halloween quilt, so it worked out in the end. HOWEVER, when I pulled the pieces out of the bag and stitched them together, this quilt looked like I had sewn elastic all the way around the edge. The outer triangles were too small. The lesson I learned from this is check the measurements on your old projects. Sometimes there was a reason you set it aside. 20 years later you don’t remember that.
Here’s the same quilt design, in Moda fabrics that we made 20 years ago
Save the Date for our “Show and Tell” Event
Friday, April 9 and Saturday. April 10, 2021
We are going to have a big “Show and Tell” event. We are so excited about this event and given the response, you are too. We look forward to seeing you. Bring all the quilts and quilt tops that you have made. Bring a yard chair. We’ll be outside at the barn. Assuming that the weather cooperates, it should be a fun day. (If the weather is cold or rainy, we’ll reschedule.) We’ll have coffee and muffins. We’ll still be careful. We’ll be respectful of space. We’ll do another event later if you are not comfortable being out yet. Plan to arrive about 10ish and we’ll start the Show and Tell at 11ish. It will be helpful if you let us know if you are coming, so we can prepare enough muffins, but a reservation is not required. Someone asked, “Can we shop?” Yes, by all means! Shopping is encouraged!
As you know, we are working on our church yard sale. The money we raise goes for college scholarships. If you would like to bring items for the yard sale, we will gladly accept them. We are looking for basic household items like sheets and towels and kitchen items. We sell a lot of old suitcases. Please do not bring random electronics. Don’t even think about bringing that old treadmill that’s taking up space in your sewing room.
Call or text Cindy – 704-376-2531 if you would like to order anything, rsvp for the show and tell or make an appointment to shop. Taxes and shipping will be added to orders. Remember, we do not have a shopping cart on our website. If you need us for anything, call and make a shopping appointment.
Shopping Time
You can always make an appointment for any time that suits you by calling Cindy at the number above. We would love to see you. We will be close by all week, but will be here on Friday for sure from 10am – 2ish. Call us if you need directions. We are located off I-40 between Statesville and Mocksville, NC.
Some Fabric Pizzas to Sell
featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics.
Ten 1/2 yds pieces per pizza
$59.95
Florals
Blues
Blacks
Orange/pink
Reds
Quilt Show
Kaleidoscope has many different faces. You can make this quilt many times and each quilt will look different depending on fabric choice, layout, etc.
This is the basic block. Traditionally the block consists of 8 triangles. (45 degree). Shown here, each block is 4 light and 4 dark triangles. Half the blocks will have dark corners and half the blocks will have light corners.
This is the traditional set up. Most people say they see circles, yet all the lines are straight lines. Now, let’s go a step further…
Take a good look at this sample. One block is 8 dark triangles with light corners, and the the connecting block is 4 dark triangles and 4 light triangles with light corners. The triangles are extended into the border. Now you see even more curves!
We call this one Cheerios. Same Kaleidoscope block, but 3 dark triangles, then 1 light triangle, then 3 more dark triangles and 1 more light triangle. All the blocks have light corners.
As you can see, all these quilts look entirely different, but are the same basic block. We’ll look at some more versions next week.
Scrap quilt tips –
We’ve talked about organizing your fabric. This is always a struggle.
We’ve talked a little about having contrast, or a variety of lights and darks in your quilts. We’ve talked about prewashing or not.
You are ready to start cutting….
WAIT! WAIT!
Take some time to starch and iron your fabric. As fabric gets thinner, taking the time to prep your fabric before cutting is very important. Cindy and I both have a piece of midweight plywood, covered with thin batting and muslin that we press on. It’s about 24″ x 24″. Bigger than a fat quarter. Use whatever product you like the best. Spray your fabric. Let it rest a while. Then iron parallel to the selvage or lengthwise grain. I like to press one fabric, lay another on top and press again. I continue until I have 6-8 layers deep. I set these stacks aside until I am ready to cut. More on cutting next week…
Come to see us this week. Bring what you are working on to show us.
Call Cindy – 704-376-2531 if you would like to order anything or make an appointment to shop.
ALL CAROLINA’S SHOP HOP
One last thing, something new is coming this fall. During the months of October and November, we will be participating in the ALL CAROLINA’S SHOP HOP. This will incorporate shops all over NC and SC. Look for the page on Facebook. More details to follow.
Keep reading our newsletters. We’ll have something different to feature each week. If your friends need to sign up, please go to our website, www.quiltersgallery.net and put your info in the signup box. Make sure you click on the desktop version, if you are looking on your phone, to get the full website with all the quilt photos.
Tell your friends to look for our newsletters on Facebook.
Search for The Quilter’s Gallery or Cynthia Page.
Curly says, “I’ve had a hard week. All this rain has made my skin sore. My momma, with some help from her sweet farrier, Miss Meridith, had to sedate me, shave my legs, scrub them with Ivory soap, rinse them and apply antibiotic ointment. It’s gonna take more than carrots to get me in a good mood again.”
Cindy – 704-376-2531
Patti – 704-807-6992
www.quiltersgallery.net
Email: [email protected]
