Kaleidoscope Groove quilt

There are some quilts which you have to fight for. These are the ones that you know could be good, soooo good, but they only come together with a struggle. It may be because you are stretching yourself with color or design or it may be because this moment in your life enfolds you in stress that blocks or complicates your creative life.

This quilt was just such a project. My artistic vision of it was blurry, but I felt that it really had potential. I did not give up on doing my best by it, even if that meant taking as many steps back as forwards at times. Piles of cut cornerstones, abandoned sashing, machine paper pieced blocks that needed to be unpicked - these were labor pains.

When I finished Kaleidoscope Groove I threw it down on my sewing room floor, as I usually do, to take my first glimpse of its final form. And that’s whey I realized - this quilt captures my September and October. These months were complicated. Two steps forward and one step back is an optimistic way of describing the tangled mess of my divorce proceedings. I navigated many a dark and moody day in these months, adjusting my view of reality and the future, bringing the kaleidoscope up to my eye to take in new and dizzying perspectives.

Bright shiny rainbow moments intersected with sharp, pointy realities, just like my scrappy kaleidoscope blocks. The cool urban gray, which never feels welcoming or cozy to me, still offers a suitable background for something beautiful and hopeful to be born.

And the birds - - They represent Movement! Freedom! Possibility! All things that keep me leaning hopefully into the next day.

Choosing a quilting pattern was easy. This distortion quilting captures the sense of flight for my birds while also tying in with the spinning, reality-bending properties of the kaleidoscope. I love how it turned out!

For the quilt back I put together some rainbow-bright prints, one from Brave by Anna Maria Horner and a multicolor from Rifle Paper Co. The black and white text print at the bottom is a Windham Fabrics wideback fabric. I love it!

And it’s bound with that serpent green color that I originally was going to use for all my cornerstones. I like the mysterious energy of that shade. I did use a few sergeant green cornerstones at the top and bottom of the quilt, to sort of ground it in my original idea. It’s subtle, but I like the effect.

So, this is Kaleidoscope Groove! Since this quilt has suddenly revealed itself as a diary of sorts, I have decided to keep it for now. But don’t worry, you can make your own. This quilt pattern is one of four bonus patterns to be included in my 2024 block of the month club, Positivities. These kaleidoscope blocks make an appearance in the main Positivities quilt, so Kaleidoscope Groove is actually a spin-off design from the BOM sampler.

If you like this, I think you’re going to love Positiviites! Sign up here if you’re interested in joining us. We’ll be starting January of 2024!

p.s. If you’re planning a Kaleidoscope Groove quilt, I am sorry to say that you are unlikely to find the bird fabric I have used here. It is an old Cotton and Steel print that’s no longer available. However, you may find other directional bird prints, like this one, or just look for fabrics with movement or strong direction to create a similar effect. Three possibilities which would work well with cream sashing: Flowerland, Moonlight Batik or Kismet Cloak and Petal. You have time to find just the right fabric as the pattern will not be released to club members until June 2024.