A Kaleidoscope Runner with Honeybell

Have you tried any of the kaleidoscope techniques... Bethany Reynolds' Stack-N-Whack, One Block Wonder by Maxine Rosenthal, or any of Paula Nadelstern's kaleidoscope techniques? There's a surprise inside every block! And the fabric does all the work (well, a lot of it, anyway).

Make a kaleidoscope quilt with Honeybell by Blank Quilting.

The star of this kaleidoscope quilt is the Honeybell collection by Blank Quilting. I've used the cocoa colorway for this runner, but the teal version would be stunning as well. Several of my local [Chattanooga area] quilt shops carry it in one of the colorways.

This project finished at  22.25" x 47.25" so it could be a table runner or a bed runner. Have you heard of bed runners? They've become popular among quilters. They're like table runners only they lay across the foot of the bed. They bring pattern, color or print to a decor without having to invest the time and materials required for a full size bed quilt. How cool [and quick] is that?

Free-motion quilting with a solid and a variegated cotton thread.

Desiree is a versatile blender fabric and appears in several of my quilts. The dijon color of the sashing warms up the gray and black in the blocks. Two different threads were used on the top for the free-motion quilting.

Aurifil solid and WonderFil variegated theads with the Bottom Line in the bobbin.

The backing fabric is from the Sparkle 108" wide back collection (color: java). Free-motion feathers were quilted over the kaleidoscope blocks and then I surrounded them with various fillers. Why use one motif when you can use three or more? Right?

Back view: free-motion quilting with the Bottom Line.

Stats:

Aurifil 50 wt. cotton (#2920 solid), WonderFil Tutti 50 wt. cotton ( #TU14 variegated) and Superior Bottom Line #618 poly (in the bobbin). 9.5 hours of free-motion quilting. 3.5 bobbins.

The WonderFil #TU14 is probably my favorite variegated colorway from this thread line. It has pale lavender, goldenrod yellow, and a moss green that is such a unique combination and not often found.

The Auriful blended perfectly with the dijon sashing strips and the Bottom Line medium brown #618 just melted into the Sparkle java backing.

I'll be teaching a class using this Kaleidoscope technique soon, so stay tuned. 

Free-motion quilting (back view).

And, the corners of this runner are beveled... just because.

Kaleidoscope Honeybell runner. 47.25" x 22.25"