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".
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Quilting details on Peanuts Kaleidoscope |
Here's the leftover Peanuts fabric on the back, extended with some random scraps.
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
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| 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
35 comments:
love the back! snoopy.... I can hear your music now.... I have the Doheny ruler and haven't used it yet. I hired her to come to Annapolis guild years ago and she was a great speaker. LeeAnna
Love this! I like how Sujata's idea for flowers also makes the larger circles in the secondary design more obvious. It's really fun, and I agree, it looks better without the border.
I also really like your nice big photo. It's made me think that maybe my blog template could be wider. I will have to think about that!
Oh wow! Such a bright, striking quilt! I just love the different values in the blue, the happy red and green and the touch of orange. Perfect Peanuts colors! I've actually been playing with one of Sujata's ideas too. We'll see if it comes together half so well.:)
I like the colours you have pulled out to go with the Peanuts fabrics; they work really well together. Also love how this block works here - I agree with Monica that the flowers also somehow pull the eye to the large circles - lots of movement going on. And you are making me think I might play around a bit more with red.
What a stunning quilt! I love kaleidoscope quilts and your fabric in this one are wonderful.
Thanks, LeeAnna. This quilt turned out so cute I want to try it again. Like you, I bought this ruler years ago. I made two or three quilts with it. Since then it's just been on my shelf. It's good to know she was a good speaker.
Thanks, Monica. Sujata's idea to re-arrange the triangles made lovely flowers appear.
I don't think our blog templates are that different. I put the first photo on Flickr and copied it here in the medium size. The other photos are set to extra-large within blogspot. You could try it and preview. Some photo sizes are too large for the template.
Didn't it turn out well? Better than I expected at first. It's just so happy! I'll be checking to see which idea of Sujata's you're playing with.
Thanks, Kaja. I pulled these fabrics simply by how well they went with the Snoopy prints. Some were surprising. I wasn't sure they would all go together without looking clownish or juvenile but I'm so pleased with the result. Definitely working on this again.
I love red.
Thanks, Maureen. This turned out surprisingly well. I'm chuffed!
Wonderful! Lots of movement and patterns coming in and out. I didn't know there was a Charles Schulz museum in Santa Rosa! And you saw the Peanuts movie too, wow.
Thanks, Janie. Yes. Mr. Schulz worked in Santa Rosa for the last 30 or so years of his life. Lovely museum and ice rink.
What a thoughtful gift. The Peanuts fabrics just give it a whole new layer of fun. I love kaleidoscope quilts (made one as RSC project this year) and hadn't seen Sujata's version. I like her idea of adding corners later (but without design wall...not so easy for layouts) and the resulting flowers.
I'm impressed with your FMQ too!
Anyway, what an awesome idea, awesome quilt, awesome quilting, awesome friend!
I love this quilt, lots of movement and those 'flowers' add real interest! Am tempted to have a play with this, I have had the ruler for ages but not used it!
This is a beautiful quilt - your choice of fabrics and colors is really wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing!
You're right, Cathy; the fabric did add another layer of meaning and fun to the quilt.
It's hard not to buy supplies, isn't it? I bought this one in the 90's; not sure why I saved it so long but certainly glad I did.
Thanks for writing, June. This quilt just says "happy" to me.
As a fellow Peanuts fan (I was in love with Snoopy as a kid) I adore this quilt Ann! I like it better with just the two Snoopy fabrics actually - that way it isn't overdone... it looks wonderful and your friend will love it!
What a gorgeous quilt! Love the idea of putting the corners on last - really ties the quilt together so well.
Love this Ann - and yet another finish, woohoo! I think the 'less is more' approach to the Peanuts fabric worked out for the best - it's like hunting for them in the kaleidoscope as you click it round :) One of the things I really love about this design is the large secondary circles you can find. Great quilt Ann!
A great combination of fabrics. Love it!
Thanks, Lara. This turned out much better than my original plan.
Thanks, Shasta. I'm enjoying the design wall; I never had one until last year.
Those secondary circles are so interesting. It's why I first made this pattern years ago.
Thanks. I had fun putting them together.
This is truly beautiful . I am very impressed with the care and work that went into this quilt.
Thanks, Lisa. Our friend likes it so much.
Oh I love it! It's a gorgeous pattern and the snoopy fabric is a lovely extra surprise!
Thanks, Carie. This turned out so much better than I originally planned and our friend loves it. It was fun to incorporate unexpected fabrics into the design and still have it work so well.
What a great assortment of prints--I especially love the addition of chevrons, stripes and plaid! Great quilting too!
Ann! I had no idea you had a blog. I just love it! You are one exceptional quilter, girl!
And I love how you used chevrons in your arrow fletchings, Mel.
Thanks, Joni. I'm not sure it keeps me out of trouble but it's fun.
Hi, just wanted to update you... I have been playing with this over the last few days, such fun! {and I've linked back to you too!}
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