I’m happy to report that I wound up with 21 4-patch kaleidoscope blocks, of which 20 are needed for my current Work-in-Progress based on the pattern Dandelions at Dusk by Blue Bear Quilts. You will remember I started with these two test blocks:
Because I didn’t have extra focus fabric to play with, many of my blocks share the same floral element so I arranged them accordingly to get a better look:
(I have a piece of flannel draped over the door to my sewing room for a narrow but easily accessible design wall. My big design wall is across the hall in the room I call the Annex.)
Satisfied that there’s enough variety in the blocks, I laid them out in the 4 x 5 grid called for in the pattern. After moving individual blocks around over the course of a few days, I settled on this layout:
When it comes time to sew the finished blocks together, each four-patch kaleido unit will be positioned in one of four corners of the finished block — upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right. (Take another look at the first photo in this post and you’ll see what I mean.)
But what about that 21st block, the one that didn’t make the cut? Here it is:
Most likely it will end up on the back of the quilt.
Now it’s time to move on to the other block components — the half-square triangles and the units with sashing strips. I’m off to my sewing room to do some rotary cutting. Thanks for stopping by!
This is going to be great. To me, it is soft and rich at the same time. Looking forward to seeing the next step!
Hooray, you’re in the sewing room having fun! I must confess, the process of finding the right arrangement of blocks would have me burning the midnight oil for days on end as the possibilities seem endless. But, that is one of your keenest skillsets – that sharp eye for the artistic elements of composition and knowing when it’s right the moment you see it!
When you made this pattern before, I was smitten. I saved a photo of your beautiful quilt for future consideration as a project but, as usual, I eventually forgot and moved on to other things. When you brought it up again, I went back and found the photo of your first version. I had to have it. I found it on either Etsy or eBay and now I have it in my hands. I am gearing up for a retreat and that pattern is getting serious retreat consideration. After making this a second time, do you think being at a retreat would be too distracting for this pattern? (This is only my second retreat and last year I wasn’t interested in much of what I took to work on.) Thank you for introducing me to this pattern.
Hi Linda. I’ve made so many four-patch kaleidoscope quilts that I’m not sure which pattern you are referring to. I started with “4-Patch Stacked Posies” by H.D. Designs but soon branched out with my own designs featuring different settings for the four-patch kaleido blocks. Most quilt patterns featuring these blocks are quite simple to make so I would encourage you to consider one of them for your retreat. The most challenging task, at least the first time you do it, is stacking four repeats and cutting them into squares. It’s so important to keep the repeats from shifting because the four blocks that form a faux-kaleido block need to be exact and identical. Maybe you could do that step at home and take your cut squares and other fabrics to the retreat, where I predict you would have great fun working on it. Or perhaps one of your fellow retreat quilters has done this before and could give you advice. In either case, I say “go for it!” — Dawn