Kaleidoscope Quilt and Peanuts Movie

We have a good friend who shares a love of Snoopy/Peanuts with my husband. Oh, and a birthday! We celebrated this year by visiting the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA, and attending the Peanuts movie. This past spring I decided to make her a quilt with Peanuts fabric. I'd seen some before this decision but I only found two pieces in six months of searching - one in California, the other in Colorado. (Once the quilt was finished I found a huge selection at PIQF and more at the Schulz Museum. Too late.)

My original plan would not work with only two fabrics. On to plan B. I've quoted Claire Cook before. "If plan A doesn't work, remember there are twenty-five more letters."

I used Marilyn Doheny's kaleidoscope ruler to make the Spiderwebs. There are directions for making kaleidoscopes with strips on the back of the card (which I still have, imagine that.) More recently I saw this lovely quilt by Linda Miller using four or five strips in each wedge. Sujata Shah made another that gave me the idea to wait to fill the corners until the top is on the design wall. (I can't find the link.)

Mine have only two strips, cut 3.5 inches each. Because of the angles, the seam at the top of the wedge is about 5/8". Once sewn, the inner ring becomes smaller than the outer and the blocks finish 11.25".

Kaleidoscope quilt using
Peanuts or Snoopy fabric.

I looked through my stash for cheerful fabrics that seemed to go with either the red or blue Snoopy fabric. Those two were used in most of the kaleidoscopes. I made strips of fabric pairs about 28" long and cut wedges with the point on opposite sides. This gave me two sets of four wedges. Then I placed the them on the design wall and rearranged.

Laying out the spiderweb portion of
Peanuts Kaleidoscope

Larger, slightly oversized HSTs fill the corners. Each was cut from a 4.5" square. By carefully selecting triangles, I made some flowers. (Thanks, Sujata!) The blocks were easier to trim because of the extra room in the corners.

Possible flowers in the Peanuts Kaleidoscope

I considered this Jane Sassaman fabric for the border. Using it as triangles looks better than the diamonds but in the end, decided this quilt didn't need anything more.

Considering a border for Peanuts Kaleidoscope

Because this is a snuggly lap quilt, I wanted a looser, all-over pattern. Maria Shell gave me the idea to mix swirls and flowers. Fun and easy.

Quilting details on Peanuts Kaleidoscope

Here's the leftover Peanuts fabric on the back, extended with some random scraps.

Back of Peanuts Kaleidoscope

Quilt Details

Size: 58"(H) x 58"(W)

Pattern: Kaleidoscope variation

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Gutermann cotton thread in orange

Quilting: Free motion on a Bernina 1230

Remember, the next Ad Hoc Improv Quilters link up is this coming Tuesday, 24 November. What have you been thinking about?

Enjoy the day, Ann