Surprising blocks

reread your post, Sunny, and thot of another thing to add to this. nb. i've not made a kaleidoscope quilt so might be talking thru my beret.

can you push a pin thru the exact middle of several blocks, align them and them trim them? a few at a time so the seams dont have too much of an effect on the flatness you must cut thru. with perhaps, one from the first set used as a size marker for each following sets you trim, so they'd all end up the same.

i'm rather fond of the watercolour layout. google for 'kaleidoscope quilts'

and this one i like a lot. this page see the 'one block wonder' with Beth class sample. its a watercolour layout of the original blocks with the 2 colour blocks as the background. some more great students quilts done from that workshop at the bottom of the page, shows various layouts with the blocks. might help with more ideas. i'm on dial up so this page is taking ages to load. off to check how the students quilts look. so many ways to go with these type blocks. nayy, fwiw, j.

Jeanne, those student quilts on the second link have blocks that look just like mine. The color range is, I think, more subtle than some, but then I'm not done with all 34 blocks yet. I can't imagine how much fabric it takes .... and so many little triangles, all the same size and shape.

I love your idea for a way to size the blocks. A pin through the middle is just the ticket. I'll have to make a hex template that works to keep everything uniform.

Thank you for running down that link for me. I sort of panicked when I saw those triangles, but putting them together this way is not too horrible and so far I haven't ruined any fabric. Don't tell, but if this works out, I might someday again be tempted to try one of those gorgeous Iowa star blocks that I love so much and ruined so horridly a few years ago.

Sunny

I think the one block wonder quilt is easiest to put together if you have sewn half hexagons. You arrange them on a design wall with the matching halves lined up together, then sew the halves in rows. It's assembled something like the half hexagons in the Bubbles pattern at . Doing it this way eliminates Y-seams.

You might consider adding a contrasting triangle to opposite sides of the hexagons something like this version of an I-spy quilt: . Then you get diamond shapes that you can sew together in rows. This gives you a star effect. I did a stack'n'whack this way recently. I'll try to get a picture up soon. Mine is similar to this one: The contrast triangles are the same size as the triangles that make up the hexagons.

Julia > Jeanne, those student quilts on the second link have blocks that look

ACK! You're totally right -- I should never have put those hexes together! Now I'm never going to be able to sew these babies together. I will leave the rest in half and maybe figure out a way to deal with the Y seams. Arghhhhhhhh. I was really congratulating myself for doing this and I was just shooting myself in the foot -- blockwise, that is.

Hmmmm, gotta figure this out.

Sunny

Sunny: You may be jumping to the wrong conclusion here! Go back and read Julia's note about adding triangles to make a star shape. Check the helpful links she provided and you will see that you CAN finish this quilt! Just in case you did not receive Julia's post, I am pasting a portion here:

"You might consider adding a contrasting triangle to opposite sides of the hexagons something like this version of an I-spy quilt: . Then you get diamond shapes that you can sew together in rows. This gives you a star effect. I did a stack'n'whack this way recently. I'll try to get a picture up soon. Mine is similar to this one: The contrast triangles are the same size as the triangles that make up the hexagons.

Julia in MN"

When Pat (who had come down from her hill for the occasion) and I went to Malvern last weekend we didn't realise this was a kaleidoscope quilt until we took a second look Although it looks obvious in the photo, when you saw it 'in the flesh' it was more subtle and not so obvious.

Its in my Webshots under Seen at Malvern. Its the only quilt I've put in and I'll be good and remove it in a couple of days. There is also another picture in there.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

they sound wonderful, Sunny.

Great photo Sally! That has made even the black ones visible - I barely saw them, even once you had spotted the basic construction. It honestly was amazing everyone, it really looked like a single piece of fabric with an unusual design. I don't know how she pressed those seams, because hardly any of them were visible from 1 foot away. Wonderful piece of work; but a bit sad, because the intricate work was probably missed by 90% of the people there.

Thanks for the other one, too! . In message , Sally Swindells writes

ok, have wiped up the drool and can type again. that is one gorgeous quilt for sure. would love to see the starting fabric intact. if i'm seeing it correctly, those are equalateral (sp?) triangles, 6 of them in each unit, duh, jeanne, they are hexagons, what other number could there be.

anyhow, i've been pondering the idea if when using all equ....tri's you could start with one set in the middle, adding on in matching places so the design grows but is still symmetrical. not sure if that makes sense. it does in my head but not everything i think makes sense to most other people.

seems it might be somewhat like Ricky Tims latest books show. i forget the name at the moment and havent had breakfast yet so cant be bothered looking it up. anyhow does that work or not? am i just way lost in outerspace yet again? sorry, brain is sad at the best of times so could be taking thru my beret with a hole in it. j.

Congratulations!

Wow, someone worked hard on their design wall. The kaleidoscope is really hard to tell at first.

Thanks for sharing.

Lenore

They don't need to be all the same size or perfect. Turn under the hexagon edges and use them for the centers of applique flowers. Scatter the flowers over the whole quilt or make a specific pattern using alternate plain blocks. Debra in VA See my quilts at:

You can also cut the hexes into a flower shape and applique them to square backgrounds. Debra in VA See my quilts at:

Gosh, that's a beautiful kaleidoscope quilt, Sally! I love the way the quilter used color to create a scene. As for the other picture you posted, I know very well who earned that one! :D It is a well-deserved reward that should have a place of honor in a home on a certain hill.

I totally missed it too! Way to go Pat! We ALL knew it would be a winner....it's nice to know the judge's thought so too ! Congratulations! And thanks for posting it Sally!

Gratz Pat!! I always knew it was a winner. Thanks for posting so we can all see. :)

Sunny

Thanks for alerting us to Pat's success:-)

And Pat, seems as if the judges are also pleased with your machine quilting!! Well done!

Thanks Sandy! . In message , Sandy writes

Thanks Jeanne - not a winner, more an 'honourable mention'! Very surprised and happy to have it though. . In message , nzlstar* writes