Sunday, November 18, 2012

Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Tutorial

Way back in March, I saw this stunning quilt top on Rita's blog. I was absolutely awestruck and mentally jotted down "paper pieced kaleidoscope quilt" on my to-make list. Fast forward to round 9 of the Pillow Talk Swap (PTS9) when I was partnered with Adrianne of Little Bluebell. I've been a big fan of Adrianne's for a while now and really wanted to make something that she'd enjoy. In her description of what she'd like to receive, she listed simple, all-over design as being something she liked. Almost immediately, Rita's quilt top popped into my head and I came up with this pillow version. I've put together a little tutorial on how I made my PTS9 pillow. Let me know if you have any questions.

First, you need to determine the size of blocks you want to make. I wanted 4" finished blocks so I could easily make them work with a 16", 20", or 24" pillow form. You'll need to adjust the size of you paper if you want larger or smaller blocks.

Start with a 4x4" piece of paper. Line your paper up on your cutting mat and then begin drawing the following lines by rotating your ruler around the square.

Top left to bottom right - one inch in from both sides:

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Top right to bottom left - one inch in from both sides: (this image also shows my drawn line top left to bottom right of one inch down and one inch up)

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Top right to bottom left - one inch down and one inch up:

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Your finished block should have four criss-crossing lines on it and should look like this:

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Next, align your ruler with one of the drawn lines (it doesn't matter which one), and cut the square into two halves.

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Then, paper piece your desired fabrics onto one half of the paper. Since we used a 4" square, which is our finished size, make sure you have plenty of fabric on the outside edges of the paper for trimming. For paper piecing basics, check out this post or do a web search for "paper piecing" (not to be confused with "English paper piecing") - there are plenty of posts and videos out there to help you if you've never tried paper piecing before.

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Repeat with the other half of your 4" square.

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Now it's time to square up both halves. Place your 1/4" mark on your ruler on each edge of the paper and trim. This is your seam allowance.

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Each trimmed half should look like this:

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

Align your two halves so the long diagonal edges of each paper match up, right sides together. Stitch just along the edge of the paper. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this.)

Press your seams and remove the paper on the back. Here's what your finished block will look like:

Foundation Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope Block Tutorial

You can then repeat the above steps to make as many blocks as you like. Arrange the blocks as desired. Sew the blocks into rows and the rows together to make a pillow or quilt top.

PTS 9 - Paper Pieced Kaleidoscope

For my PTS9 pillow, I made 16 blocks and laid them out in a 4x4 layout. I then added a thin white border and then a thicker border to achieve my desired pillow top size.

Finished Pillow Talk Swap Round 9 Pillow

I was really pleased with how this pillow came together. I really want to make a quilt using this technique, but with larger block sizes. Perhaps that's something to put on 2013's to-do list.

42 comments:

♥Duff said...

What's this "really pleased" business? Your pillow is super-swoll-fabulous!!

Katie B said...

Perfect! Thanks for the tutorial!

Token Asian Friend said...

Thanks! I've always wondered how to make that block on my own :)

Debbie said...

This is really lovely!

Cille said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this tutorial. It's great and definately a must do :)

bruinbr said...

Beautiful pillow! What a lucky partner and thanks for the tutorial!!

sukie said...

Great tutorial!

happy zombie said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS! And I love your tute, I'm sooo going to have to try it.

Tennjenny said...

I love love love this pillow and thank you for posting a tutorial.

Sarah said...

Love this tutorial Brooke! Totally using it.

Steph Zerbe said...

Oh My Goodness, this is stunning and your photo tutorial makes it actually look doable for a beginner like me. THANK YOU! I have to try this!

Nancy@owensolivia said...

WOW. WOW. WOW.

Beatrice said...

Hello, I've come from Craft Gossip. Thank you for the tutorial.
Beatrice.

Holly said...

This is so pretty, thank you. I might try it, but maybe create a template and print out a bunch rather than hand-draw each one.

Shannon said...

Love, love, LOVE this pillow! It is so freaking cute!

~Kelie~ said...

Wow! This is gorgeous!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Beautiful pillow and thanks for showing how you made your PP template!

Unknown said...

hello how are you
gusro me much this cushion
grace for the tutorial
you have good week
besossssssssssssssssssssssssss

Unknown said...

hello how are you
gusro me much this cushion
grace for the tutorial
you have good week
besossssssssssssssssssssssssss

Lori said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I just used it today for a swap project!

Crystelle Boutique said...

Oh my! I am so glad you shared this pattern with us! I am so amazed by how fabulous this kaleidoscope design is.... Pinning! For sure!

hugs x
Crystelle
Crystelle Boutique

Karee said...

thank you for this tutorial! going to tackle one of these in April! love the crispness.

Patricia Lessell said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial it really is wonderful and I never ever thought of making my own paper pattern.

Di~ said...

ThanksBrooke! I love this! Hope to do it soon!

Di~ said...

I pinned it! I hope that is ok with you...

MissesStitches said...

What do I have to do to draw a larger block?

Claudia/Ompompali said...

Just found your tute and it's exactly what I need. Thank you so much for sharing - now I know how to do it!

Leslie said...

I know you shared this a looooong time ago, but do you know what fabrics you chose? I love what you used together. I'm just getting into quilting and pieced my first one (just a SUPER simple jelly roll) last month. I'm taking a class in a few weeks to make a lantern quilt (paper piecing). I've been looking online at what colors/prints draw me that I think would translate well. Plus, I need to think about smaller prints that will show for the small pieced pieces. I love what you used here and looked in your tute and in the comments but didn't see any mention. Thanks for any help!

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Gail C said...

I saw a hack once where someone said that the Dollar Tree flexible cutting mats make excellent DIY templates. I will have to try...cheap and reusable

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Crystal Mosko said...

Hello! Was wondering how you deal with the bulky seams when you put the two halves together? Thank you so much! Incredibly informative post with pictures that make it easy to understand. Beautiful pillow!!

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