A Kaleidoscope Calendar

Have I ever told you how I am surrounded by very creative and talented quilters up here in North Bay?  While I am.

I have shown you my Kaleidoscope quilt before.  Here it is again. 

My reason for doing so, is to introduce the 2016 Kaleidoscope calendar that the day guild that I belong to (Near North Quilters' Guild) has published.

What a beauty it is!

We had a bunch of close-up shots of all the kaleidoscope quilts that the members made and it was decided to have them shown on the cover and placed in oval shapes to replicate our logo shape.  Looks like Easter eggs, eh!

A calendar was sent to Ricky Tims (we used his book:  Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts).  This is the letter and explanation of how this calendar came to be.

Dear Ricky,

Our day guild, Near North Quilters’ Guild thought that you might like to have a 2016 calendar showing off our wonderful collection of kaleidoscope quilts.  We are so proud of our accomplishment! 

How did we get started on this project?  Back in the summer of 2013, our then president, Natalie, thought what a great project this would be.  The Program Committee asked the guild if they would be interested in doing a challenge, doing something really different.  They agreed. 

I won’t lie, the pattern was a bit difficult and some members even swore that if they had known what they were getting themselves into, they would never have started.

Started they did.  Thirty members bought your book, Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts and away we went. 

Our books were purchased through a guild member that has a store called The Cottage Quilter (http://thecottagequilter.ca/).  The place where she buys her books from wanted to know why we were ordering an older book.  It didn’t matter how old the book was, we wanted it to complete our challenge.  To us it was NEW.

At our December 2013 meeting, we got the members drawing up their templates and then they went home to study the layout in their books that they liked the best.  At our January 2014 workshop, members came to the meeting with their fabric and sewing machines.  What a grand day that was.  There was some confusion, some frustration but gradually we looked around the room in awe.  Their kaleidoscopes started to take shape.

Meeting after meeting, members were showing off their kaleidoscope tops and then quilts.  This was a magic time.  It was time to put Natalie’s other vision of having a calendar and writing cards into action.  A professional photographer was brought in and photos were taken.  It didn’t matter if they were quilts or tops, we wanted them all. To accommodate all the tops and quilts, two photography sessions were arranged.

After all the photos were taken, it was time to take stock and see how many we had.  Twenty-two photos in total.  How in the world do we take all those photos and put them into a twelve month calendar?  We had to become creative, without insulting any quilter by not giving them proper viewing.  Can you figure out how we did it?

Two quilters that appear in the calendar have blogs.

Deanna (October) has her blog at:  http://www.scrappynanna.blogspot.ca/  She has posted about her Kaleidoscope quilt that she made.  Please go to her post on Monday, March 3, 2014 and scroll down to see all her posts about this quilt.

On my blog (www.appliqueandpatches.blogspot.com) I have posted a few times about the making of my kaleidoscope quilt.  Sadly, for the calendar (Rose Marie Castonguay, July), it was not quilted, but it has since been completed and hanging on my wall.  If you are interested, please visit my blog Applique ‘n Patch Quilting and scroll down to my Labels until you see Kaleidoscope.  Click onto that word and scroll down to the bottom and then read up.

So, enjoy our calendar and thank you for giving us a challenge to remember.

If you want to see some of the kaleidoscope quilts, go here and scroll down.

Below are the writing cards that we produced as well.  One pack (on the left) has all of my Kaleidoscope quilt (we could have all of the same quilt in one pack) and the other pack are assorted.

I wonder what else we will come up with next?  Yep, we are very proud of this project!

Have a great day!

My Kaleidoscope

Since my last post, my task was to continue working on my hand quilting and to finish up two quilts that were started.  I chose to finish my kaleidoscope quilt.

There were three borders left to do.  Then two.  Then one.  Suddenly, I was trimming the outer borders.  Wow .... that went quickly.

The binding was sewn on and then I was on a mission to get one side done and then another until it was all done.

Even my label was made and ready to be sewn on.

After washing and blocking ..... my quilt was done!  Oh, happy, happy days.

 

In the navy blue negative area, this is where you see my machine quilting.  A very tight meander.

A  close-up of my hand quilting.  One tip for you if you ever make a kaleidoscope quilt .... in the very centre, cut away a bit of the batting and the bulk of all those seams will sink into the hole and you won't have any puff up centre.  It worked for me.  Mind you, this is a wall hanging and that is why I did that.  When I run my hand on the backing, I can feel the centre poking through the hole. 

Finished size: 52" x 52-1/2"
Source:  Ricky Tims "Kool Kaleidoscope Quilts"
Quilting:  Both machine and hand quilting
 
Have a great day!

Hand quilting

With friends urging me to start getting some of my tops quilted, I've taken their advise and have started the process.  It is my goal for 2015 but it doesn't hurt that others are whispering in my ear.

My Kaleidoscope quilt is the start.  So far, I'm  not happy with what has been done.  Red and blue threads are being used and they are not showing the quilting very well.  Some of the quilting may be taken out and replaced with my standard beige or white quilting threads.

The back shows up beautifully .... just not the front and that is where it is most important.

After removing some of the above quilting threads and going back to my standard white/beige threads is working much better for me.  Now, I can at least see some of the quilting and it is standing out more. 

Have a great day!

That's better!

All the triangles are now basted onto the borders of my Kaleidoscope and the borders have been sewn back on.  I'm so much happier with the final look.   All I can say is "wow"!  What a huge difference.  :o)

So, now all those triangles need to be appliqued onto the border and the top will be finished. 

Have a great day!

Just can't leave it alone ...

When I took my Kaleidoscope top to my day guild meeting this week for show and tell, I looked at all the other Kaleidoscope tops and quilts and my border was really, really plain.

Once home, the top went back up on my design wall and I started playing with ideas for the border.

My first thought didn't go over well with DH.  He simply didn't like it.  No photo was taken as it was no longer a contender.

So, playing around again, the triangles was another idea that we both liked:

 Once the triangles were more refined, they were placed around the border.

This will be the final look.  More triangles need to be added to complete the border.  What a huge difference bits of scrap leftover strips can make!

 I do love playing the "what if" game.

Have a great day!

Kaleidoscope

After a couple of days of sewing, pinning, sewing, pinning, etc. ..... this is now a top!

I do have to say that while it was a tedious task, the reward was worth all my sweat and tears. 

 This top will go so nicely with my other red/white/blue and red/white tops and quilts. 

So, there are now 22 tops and 35 UFO's. 

Have a great day!