198. Kaleidoskop

 Kaleidoskop is one of the most epic quilts I have ever completed. So it's quite mind boggling that when it was completed (in 2019), I never blogged about it.

I began making this quilt in 2015 after Katja Marek released her first book, The New Hexagon. She then ran a monthly sew-along, although of course I could never stay on track as the entire quilt is hand pieced using the English paper piecing method.

From the beginning, I chose to do something I had not done before--use fabric by just one designer, Denyse Schmidt. She had many, many lines that I dearly loved, and released several more lines during the four years it took to complete the quilt top.

I began with the large pink and orange  portion in the middle left.

When we were in Pismo shortly after I started, the city was marking the sidewalks for some kind of work. Although I know that this is the marking for the "sewer," I'm so happy they abbreviated it to "sew," as this is one of my all-time favorite process photos.

Each medallion had a different color scheme and it was the most fun to choose fabrics from all of Denyse's different lines to work within each color scheme.

I always tagged Denyse and a couple of times she sent me fat quarter bundles of a new fabric line. Once, she included the quilt in a  video on her website.

I  sent some fabric to both Katja and Denyse for them to autograph, so I could include their signatures in the quilt.

We photographed the top at Oceano Dunes.

This quilt was the last one to be photographed for the calendar Quilts and Classics, and I knew that the vehicle choice and backdrop needed to be stellar. For years, I have passed this house on the way to see my good friend, Dotty. What I didn't know for a long time was that the owners were also collectors of classic vehicles. Dotty approached them with my calendar idea and they said I was welcome to not only use one of their cars but also photograph in front of their beautiful home with the circular driveway.

Our first choice was this beautiful 1938 Babe Ruth Nash. 

However, the brakes were not working on the day we chose to photograph. The owners offered to roll it out into the driveway but that made me really nervous. So instead we decided on the 1937 Ford. Actually, I think the gorgeous deep red was a better backdrop for the quilt and the home.

Wondering about the different spelling of the name? The designer, Katja Marek, is German. So I searched for an English to German version of the word kaleidoscope. 

It won an Honorable Mention in the Best of the Valley quilt show in 2019.

Title: Kaleidoskop

Designed by: Katja Marek

Date Completed: 2019

Size: 76" x 76"

Quilted by: Darby Myers