Design Your own Kaleidoscope Quilt
Whether You Go Simple or Complex, Stitching is Easier Than You Might Think!
Kaleidoscope quilts are so interesting because many effects can be achieved from one simple block. While these quilts look like they have curves, there is no curved piecing involved. It’s all an illusion!
Careful placement of neutral triangles (white, in this case) make the overall design stand out in the quilts shown here.
We love the vivid colors used in this version by Kyndra at Sewlio. The solid fabrics glow against each other. Batiks and small scale prints would be just as lovely.
Kyndra was inspired by this quilt by Cindy at Hyacinth Quilt Designs. Here you can see just how charming prints are when made up in this pattern. The softer colors are gorgeous too. Notice how the blocks are larger than in Kyndra’s version and there are fewer of them.
Elizabeth Dackson of Don’t Call Me Betsy provides an excellent tutorial to use in making your own Kaleidoscope quilt. It’s presented in the form of a quilt-along, so scroll down the page to access each of the tutorials.
Elizabeth’s version seems less complex than the two shown above but that’s simply due to fabric placement.
Elizabeth made every block the same, while Kyndra and Cindy alternated blocks made with two different color placements. It’s the same block, just the color placement has changed between the two blocks. Here are two blocks isolated from Cindy’s quilt.
Look carefully at Kyndra’s quilt and you’ll see how she used a similar two-block color placement in her quilt. Notice how she matched the colors in those corner triangles so that when four block come together a square is formed. That makes her version seem even more complex. You can see how that works in the picture below.
These quilts illustrate some of the layouts you can achieve with simple Kaleidoscope blocks. Have fun designing your own unique version.
