Customer Reviews

Kaleidoscope Quilt (Quilt in a Day)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
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I am a beginner and had never made anything bigger than a small cozy lap quilt so this review is basically for beginners. I had bought this book because I loved the curving circle look without ever having to actually sew on a curve. I had the book for a while even before I attempted the pattern. What propelled me into finally sewing it was I opened by big mouth and said I would make the next annual quilt for the family reunion. Never having made a full size quilt top I wanted to make something different from what I has seen at reunions past so I turned to this book. It saved the day.

I started out making a copy of the planning quilt page, which you have permission to, in order to color and design your quilt. This was helpful to me as I colored in my design and stuck a few fabric snippets of what I already had on the design block before I went to the fabric store and it gave me a focus of what I was looking for. Of course all the yardage was already figured in the book for which ever design you wish to do. I don't think my brain had to strain a bit with this book.

You do need to have a Kaleidoscope ruler. I did not have the specific Quilt-In-A-Day Kaleidoscope ruler stated in the book. I did have a Marti Michell Kaleido-Ruler which is a diagonal half of a square with a rich amount of versatile markings for all kinds of triangle type pieces and it also measures in block sizes that the cut piece will make. This made it easy for me. I wanted 8 inch blocks and I did not have to think any harder than looking at the line on the ruler. You also need a 6" x 24" long ruler and a large squaring ruler to square up your blocks.

In cutting and sewing I followed it step by step. Simple instructions, not too wordy, a picture with every step. It is all the same style block just with different color positioning. For all the quilts in the book it will show you on a page every type of block you need for that specific quilt. That page is actually after the build a block instruction pages so for a beginner be sure to look at the whole book page by page before you start your project. Consume it as a whole then break it down to your project you have decided on. I did make some mistakes along the way, not many but a few, usually grabbing from the wrong block pile in putting it together but was easily noticed and fixed. The only difficult part I would say is making sure the inside of the star where the points come together was not bulky. If I made sure I fingerpressed the seams just the way the book showed me and made sure when sewing they did not flip over then it was all fine. I of course could not complete the quilt in a day. If I could complete anything in one day then polar bears would be sipping wine coolers in Maui. I did complete it in record time for me.

When I took the finished quilt to the reunion it was a smash. They all thought I had done something blue ribbon worthy. I did not tell them that was my first queen size project I had ever made. That is what I like about the Kaleidoscope pattern, it looks complicated and impressive for those that don't dabble in quilt making. If you know about quilts I am sure the ease of it is written on the wall but it is something about the illusion of a circle that makes some think it is more complicated beyond what it really is. This book made it easy and understandable. As you dabble more in this pattern you can create some pretty imaginative schemes and I can only wonder what a highly skilled quilter could dream up with it.

There's no one quite like Eleanor Burns!!! What seems like a perennial challenge quilt block becomes just a walk in the park! Thank you, Eleanor, for breaking it down to the simplest of formats, giving directions that require no special extra purchases... just good, old fashioned, good quilting skill.... and simply, to boot!

Sure its just another book by Eleanor Burns, but her technique for laying out the project and speed piecing is world renound.

I can't say i've done any of her quilts in 1 day, but i've gotten pretty-darned far! Maybe she gets help. :-)

I love her books and patterns because they are typically very easy to understand!

Super Book. As with all Quilt in the day books easy to read and easy to put together. Just love these books.

I have ordered other quilt books also and find that I much perfer getting my books from you ...They are very informative and I use them very often.. Elaine Cornett