Kaleidoscope Quilt in Novelty Fabrics (#88)

After my first Kaleidoscope quilt (blog post with linked tutorials & tips here), I knew this was the perfect pattern for using up loads of leftover novelty fabrics.  

Ye Olde Sweatshop was a crafty venture started in my hot garage to make & sell preshrunk cotton grocery bags. When each bag used 1.25 yards of fabric along with my time, the reality was they were too expensive when one could pick up a bag for pennies at a superstore. I plugged on for a few years until I admitted defeat and started quilting for fun and gifting quilts to family & friends.

The end result of this failed venture was a trove of bright & beautiful, non harmonizing novelty fabric.  Keeping me up at night was the question of what to do with all this stuff ... enter the Kaleidoscope quilt.

The size of the Accuquilt triangle dies are perfect. Left over scraps from the box corner of a market bag left me with hundreds of 4" squares - these became the smaller HST's. 

The larger triangles are from extra panels and linings of bags never made. 

All these patterns next to each other would be a total mess but the addition of Kona white is the saving grace.  That clean bright separation between the intense colors is perfect. Also important is sticking to the motto "only novelty patterns".  Keeping the theme consistent helps maintain the distinct look of this quilt.

Sewing notes: 

I use lots of starch before I cut, steam iron my seams open, sew a scant 1/4" seam and use a 1.5 stitch length. Most importantly, its always worth making a tester block to see how your fabric reacts to all the steam & starch.

Trim all blocks 10.5".  Layout is 6 blocks across - 7 rows down. (Again, links on how to make & assemble Kaleidoscope quilts are in this post here.)

Personal note:  This year I got a new garage door that fits & doesn't let in wind or rain and best of all ... no small critters with multiple legs.  My husband put in an air conditioner so this make Ye Olde Sweatshop a pretty nice space to hang out and sew.

Materials:
Novelty cotton fabric
Aurifil 50wt. #5007 & #2311 
Warm & White batting
Dimple dot minky in Azurite and Candy Stripe in Azurite from Hawthorne Threads 
Accuquilt dies: Triangle-Isosceles-5"x 6" / HST 3" Finished
Size: 60" x 70"
November 2017