Kaleidoscope

May I present Kaleidoscope.

Usually when I finish a quilt, there's a sense of "well that was fun". Sometimes, "whew, I'm glad that's done". And occasionally, "wow, there's truly a part of me in this quilt". That third sentiment is how I feel about Kaleidoscope. Supernova was like that too. It had a story, and was wrapped in some honest, raw emotion. I feel like Kaleidoscope definitely has a little of my quilting journey pieced into it.


I was intrigued with Kaleidoscope the moment Elizabeth presented the quilt-along on don't call me betsy. It was different from anything I had done before!  The fabric I chose was mostly DS prints that I had purchased on a whim weeks before. The quilt-along instructions indicated I'd need a few more prints than I had, and it really stretched me a bit to put my final grouping together. When I presented my final selections on flickr in the quilt-along group, I wasn't really confident about what kind of reception they'd receive! Thankfully they were met with affirmation.

The idea for the back was from Crazy Mom Quilts. I knew I wanted to put at least one kaleidoscope block on the back, and Amandajean's quilt back was perfect. Honestly, the vision and execution of this backing was as smooth as any I've done. Being able to baste it out on the deck in the sunshine {again}, certainly didn't hurt.

I'd been reading a lot about 'special' threads lately - like Aurifil and Superior. So before I started quilting Kaleidoscope, I went to my LQS to see what they had. They happened to carry Superior, so I got some lovely gray 'King Tut' quilting thread. It is '100% Extra-Long Staple Egyptian Cotton' and felt really smooth as I was sewing. I'll definitely put in the effort to search out quality thread next time I want to machine quilt. Plus this was the first time I'd quilted in color, and I love what it added to the quilt.

I really thought I knew how I wanted to quilt Kaleidoscope early on, but changed my mind once I got started. {read more here} I'm glad I went with my instinct, even though, again, it felt like a bit of a stretch for me at the time. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Well, there's a bit about why Kaleidoscope is pretty special to me. The community built by this quilt-along was great fun, and with the new lessons and experiences bound up in beautiful fabric and pattern - well, I'm definitely glad I journeyed along.

So now it's time to link up with the Kaleidoscope Gallery of Finishes. Go look - there's some awesome quilting to enjoy!