I've had a recent revived interest in sewing that has turned toward quilting. I enjoy choosing the fabrics and wandering through the sale aisle of quilt shops. There are so many fun and beautiful designs to select from. Sometimes I just buy fabric because it calls to me; I'll work it into an upcoming project or put it in my stash.
Thought I'd show you a wallhanging I made from kaleidoscope blocks and recently gave as a gift. I discovered this technique a couple of years ago and have made several of these beauties since. The patterns that emerge are endless, all cut from the same piece of fabric. Each of the octagons you see was made from identical triangles cut from the fabric shown on the back of the quilt. Just as different designs come to light as you turn a kaleidoscope, varying designs materialize as you move a single triangle randomly across a piece of fabric and play with the colors and shapes. The fabric is the key element; repeating an image is the key technique.
It's fun to find where each kaleidoscope came from on the backing fabric. It's like playing Where's Waldo. I plan to make one for Elijah when he's ready to play. I could do a safari themed fabric for his room, or maybe monkeys (he's his mommy's little monkey!) and call it "Monkey in the Middle!" The name of the fabric I used for this wallhanging is "Miss Lucy's Violets and Lace," a nice name I think for the wallhanging as well.
Kaleidoscope blocks have a special meaning for me, as they were borne from my study of Psalm 119. When I give a kaleidoscope quilted piece, I like to include a card with the following greeting.
Psalm 119—A Kaleidoscope of God’s Word
My interest in kaleidoscope quilt blocks came during a study of Psalm 119, when I came across the following quote from Charles Spurgeon. It ties together my interest in lap quilting and my love for God’s Word. The triangle sections that form each octagon are from the backing fabric, as the repeated patterns are carefully planned and cut. Just as the mirrors in a kaleidoscope reflect an image, each triangle in the kaleidoscope quilt block reflects color and pattern to create a unique design. Such is Psalm 119. May this labor of love for you be a constant reminder of God’s gift of His Word.
This psalm is a wonderful composition. It deals all along with one subject only; but although it consists of a considerable number of verses, some of which are very similar to others, yet throughout its one hundred and seventy-six stanzas the self-same thought is not repeated: there is always a shade of difference, even when the colour of the thought appears to be the same. Some have said that in it there is an absence of variety; but that is merely the observation of those who have not studied it. Its variety is that of a kaleidoscope.
In the kaleidoscope you look once, and there is a strangely beautiful form: you shift the glass a very little, and another shape, equally delicate and beautiful, is before your eyes. So it is here. What you see is the same, and yet never the same: it is the same truth, but it is always placed in a new light, put in a new connection, or in some way or other invested with freshness.
~ Charles H. Spurgeon
The blocks to the right are from a table runner that I gave to my sister. I call it "Morning Sunflowers."
Want to see more kaleidoscopes?
Click on a kaleidoscope for a link to more visual delights.
Sewing Image by Macrovector via freepik
