Kaleidoscope Collections work

Jeanie gave me some of this years projects to quilt at the AQS Show in Lancaster.  We had a while before the projects needed to be finished which gave us time to think through what these kaleidoscopes would become.  Jeanie and I decided to change things up a bit and make quilted items along with a quilt or two for this years booth.

These pieces give Jeanie the opportunity to develop new techniques with the Kaleidoscope Creator and the new ideas rambling around in her head.  Leaving the quilting to me means that she can work on the main items without worrying about the finished product.  Our first item is this quilted tote bag.

We used:

1 embroidered kaleidoscope

2 fat quarters

1/2 yard suede for the back and handle

fat quarter of batting – I used bamboo

I used the suede as it’s durable and washable and I had it on hand.

 

Then we chose to create 2 pillows.

The kaleidoscopes give a great basis for the quilting and to highlight the kaleidoscopes I chose to let the quilting go to the background.  Each one of the kal’s has been quilted along with the surrounding fabric.

I chose the very simple overlapping method – involving no zippers, buttons or closures of any type – just a finished stitched edge.  These are stitched up pretty quickly.

 

And finally we chose two small quilted pieces.  These can answer that plea “make a quilt for me” on fairly short notice.  Ok there needs to be a little planning and design work, once the kal is printed and embroidered the quilting can go fairly quickly.  Using cross-grain binding makes it even simpler.

 

 

 

The loveliest thing about these projects is that they can be made up quickly, simply and with the colors that complement your kaleidoscope.

I had the opportunity to watch Jeanie demonstrate the Kaleidoscope Creator to a customer at her booth.  With a little practice it’s easy to use and the options are limitless!  Oh my can we have fun with this!

I’ll share too that the embroidery (which Jeanie will explain because I’m clueless!) really complements the kaleidoscopes and add such rich detail to the items!  I’ve given Jeanie the quilting tips and once she gets the projects up on her site feel free to ask me questions about the quilting on the embroidered kaleidoscopes.

I have a three big projects that I’ll start working on as of next week.  Two of the projects will be published so I’ll not be able to share anything until later on.  I have ideas galore rumbling through my head and it’ll be difficult to choose.  I’m headed to the Courthouse Quilters this weekend and am looking forward to two days of teaching.

Happy Quilting!

Teri