Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Purple Kaleidoscope quilt progress

First I would like to show all of you my biggest square ruler. I may not use it very often but when a large square ruler is needed there is no substitution. It is a Creative Grid. Do not know when or when I bought it. I have had it for eons. But knowing my buying habits I am sure I found it on the internet.
Here is the trimming process. I cut my corner triangles from squares measuring 6 1/2's.
The instructions have you cutting a 5 3/4" square twice on the diagonal. Not only is this a strange measurement for us "Bonnie" girls, it is also a very bad idea to put bias edges on the outside of the triangles. I cut the 6 1/2" square on the diagonal once giving me a generous triangle with straight of grain on the two outside edges. I centered that on the respective corners sewed and then when truing up the block the extra just gets cut away and the block measures a perfect but BIG 17"!!!!
Here are twelve of the fourteen blocks I made. They are not sewn together yet just slapped on the design wall. If you squint your eyes you can see two circles interwoven. I just love this pattern!

When starting this project I wound 5 bobbins with purple thread. I used all five bobbins! There is a lot of strip piecing before seeing the results. But they are sure worth the wait! I have a wild wiggly stripe fabric that is a tame yellow with tons of colors but mostly lavenders running the width of the bolt. I cut along the lengthwise of this fabric ending up with stripes running across the strips. Not only is this more pleasing to my eye, it is a better cut for borders. The lengthwise grain has less stretch than WOF grain. I learned this from one of Judy Martin's books. Yes, I have all she has written and am waiting on the next one!



13 comments:

Karen said...

All those purples! What a great quilt is coming out of those blocks.
I have a 20" ruler. I would like a bigger one. I saw a 36" square ruler one time. I think it is too big to work with one like that.

Thearica said...

THAT is gorgeous!!!

Cheryl Willis said...

Looking good, I have been wanting to do a scrappy web (maybe someday) The first quilt I made for a wedding gift was this pattern in store bought fabrics 25 yrs ago.

Colleen said...

Is there a book or pattern that teaches this technique or does it come with the triangle ruler?

Elaine Adair said...

8-))) Another winner! Yeahhhh!

I could not believe it when I first heard about the corners starting as a square cut twice diagonally - I even dug out my ruler directions, definitely in doubt! Sure enough - how weird. I just started with a 6 inch square, cut diagonally once, then trimmed up later perfect!

cockermom said...

Oh Suebee, There is my purple! I love this one and can't wait to see the finished product!

Red Pepper Quilts - Rita Hodge said...

Wow! Your Kaleidoscope quilt looks amazing! Although purple is not my first color choice, I love how you have made it work for this quilt.

Rita

Pam in KC said...

Great looking quilt. And you are so right about that large ruler. I've got one and my biggest concern is safely storing it until I need it again.

Kim said...

What a great looking quilt.
I think you should have a quilt along on your blog......take us step by step through this process so we can learn how this quilt is made the right way!
I really admire your work ethic....you spend hours at the machine!

Happy sewing

Rose Marie said...

Love this and your other kaleidoscope quilts! I really, really must make one!

Moorea said...

This is gorgeous!

Teri said...

Beautiful purples. Are all those bolts in the background yours? If so, I think I have competition for the biggest stash. LOL

Michelle said...

I love your Kaleidoscope quilts, and now that I have the ruler, I just may be making one!