Tuesday, March 13, 2018

modern plus sign quilts - kaleidoscope plus

Welcome!  
I'm honored to have been invited to participate in the Modern Plus Sign Quilts blog hop and I'm excited to share my Kaleidoscope Plus quilt with you today.


Photo credit: C&T Publications
When we received a copy of the book we each had a few days to choose which quilt we would like to make.  There are 16 interesting and exciting patterns and this Kaleidoscope Plus quilt really intrigued me.  I have always thought color with kaleidoscopes so I wanted to try this pattern using colors.


This quilt is made with both foundation pieced and traditionally pieced blocks.  I re-created the blocks with my EQ8 software then started playing around with bright solid colors.  There are infinite options.  Ultimately, I decided to use up some blue, orange, and green print scraps and went with this placement.  It was fun!  And it wasn't too hard to keep track of how many of each color block I needed.
The background, the pluses, and the stars around each plus are all Cotton and Steel prints.  The stars are a metallic basic but between my limited photography skills and the bright sun at the frozen beach I can't help you to see the sparkle.  Sorry about that.

For the back I used this print I had stashed away from the Ansonia collection by Denyse Schmidt.  The blues and yellow-greens are a perfect match with the scraps on the front.


The wind is really helping to show off the binding!  I love how this Dottie print, another Cotton and Steel basic, wraps around the edge.  There's a little sparkle in those dots, too. Along with being colorful, kaleidoscopes sparkle in my mind!


I free motion quilted this with all over jagged lines.  I used Aurifil 2021 (my favorite!) 50wt thread for all the piecing and quilting.


 Quilter's Dream cotton select loft batting always gives such a beautiful drape.  


I'm super pleased with my quilt and excited to attempt a few more of the Modern Plus Sign patterns.  I think next up will be a Postage Plus quilt using my hoarded bits of Liberty.  Doesn't that sound luxurious?  

The book is available on Amazon or from C&T Publishing.  Or better yet, you can get a signed copy from either Cheryl or Paige.  

Here are all the participants...so you can hop along and hopefully be inspired to make your own Modern Plus Sign Quilt!  

Signature Plus
Kitty @ Night Quilter

Tribal Plus
Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts
Afton @ Quilting Mod

Plus Surround
Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal
Abigail @ Cut & Alter

Kaleidoscope Plus
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Karen @ Run Sew Fun    ←Me!

Postage Plus
Bernie @ Needle and Foot

Rick Rack Runner
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

Row Addition

Transparency Chains
Christa @ Christa Quilts

Faceted Rings
Jessica @ Quilty Habit
Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs
Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter

Petal Plus
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Message in a Bottle
Tish @ Tish N Wonderland
Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine
Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

Cute as a Button
Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Celestial
Anja @ Anja Quilts

Pinwheel Plus

Intertwined

Bear Claw Plus
Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Finale
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Finally, there's a daily giveaway!!!  
You can participate using the rafflecopter on either Cheryl's or Paige's blog.  


Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Along with participating in the book's Blog Hop, I'll be linking up this post with 
Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Socia
and
Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.


92 comments:

  1. Karen, your version of Kaleidoscope Plus is beautiful! I love colors and how you placed them! And, the shots from your photo shoot are awesome! I especially like the one with your helper! :) Thank you so much for taking part in the book hop!

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    1. Thanks Paige. He was a trooper for sure! It was an honor to be invited to participate in the hop.

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  2. I love your version of this quilt! The colors are just great, and I love the way they're arranged. It is really beautiful!

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    1. Thank you so much Liz. It was fun playing with all the possibilities.

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  3. Great placement of color in the quilt top; I like how the green creates an X or a plus as well!

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    1. Thanks Yvonne. You noticed that! I do wish I'd used a little darker greens on that center block to make it stand out a little better.

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  4. Wow! This is a beautiful version! Love all the colours!

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  5. Just gorgeous! I love your choice of colors and the way you placed them.

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    1. Thanks so much! I may have spent as much time playing with my options as I did piecing the quilt!

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  6. Love the pretty circular way you laid out your fabric colors in your quilt! Your quilting is perfect! Thank you for sharing, Susan

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    1. Thanks Susan. I wish I was more adventurous with my quilting but I do love the texture and usability of this all-over pattern.

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  7. A beautiful finish! Good for you for re-creating the design in EQ8 to test your color choices. It was an extra step that paid out in the end. Well done!

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    1. Thanks Michelle. I enjoy playing around with EQ8 although a class or two would help me to be more efficient with it.

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  8. Your version of Kaleidoscope Plus is awesome! I love how you incorporated the different colors within the quilt top, I love it!! Thank you so much for being part of the blog hop!

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    1. It was an honor to participate in this blog hop. Thank you so much for the invitation. The patterns are fantastic and I'm really enjoying seeing everyone's versions.

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  9. Oh my, this is a really pretty version of Kaleidoscope Plus! It just looks so crisp and lovely against all the snow!

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    1. Thank you Wendy! It was windy on that frozen beach but the sun was shining and we had fun photographing the quilt.

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  10. Congratulations on finishing a gorgeous quilt. Thanks for sharing your creativity too with this Plus blog hop.

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  11. Love your COLOR!!! Great job on the quilting, too. Stunning quilt. A+

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  12. Nice work, the color really makes the design special.

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  13. It turned out beautifully! I think I might have to make this one next!

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    1. Thanks Jayne. Yes! This is a great pattern and I'd love to see your spin on it.

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  14. Just lovely! It looks so nice and cuddly, too.

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    1. Thanks Danette. We're keeping this one and now that the post is complete we can start using it! We may have changed our clocks last weekend but it's still cold here!

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  15. You did a lovely job! Makes me want....no, need...to buy the book!

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  16. Hi Karen! I'm so happy you participated in the blog hop too! Your Kaleidoscope Plus quilt is lovely! I'm impressed that you knew how to recreate it in EQ8, to play with color arrangement. Love your photos too! Though the weather looks terribly cold. Can't imagine how frigid that water would be. Brrr. I was one of the lucky ones who got to make the Postage Plus quilt, so do pop by tomorrow for a look! though I'm not a fan of Liberty fabrics, I did well to use up 2-1/2" many squares. Great job on your quilt, my friend!

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    1. Thank you so much Linda. I upgraded to EQ8 last year and find it much more user friendly than the previous version. That bay doesn't freeze very often and it was a beautiful sunny day so we dressed for the weather and made a day of it. I'm excited to see your Postage Plus quilt and will be hopping by tomorrow!

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  17. Oh Karen this is just gorgeous!! I love the fabrics and colours you have used. This has certainly inspired me to look at this pattern and it may just go on the to do list :)

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  18. I really like your version of this quilt!

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    1. Thanks so much Laura. It was fun playing with all the options.

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  19. It's so beautiful! I love the colours you chose and your quilting looks great with the design. The beach pictures are lovely too :)

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    1. Thanks Leanne. That bay doesn't freeze every year so it was fun to get some photos there.

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  20. Beautiful quilt, I love the fabric colors, fun quilting too!

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    1. Thanks Sherry. I love the texture of those jagged little lines.

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  21. I just adore your color choices for this quilt! So beautiful!! And the quilting of jagged lines works so nicely with it!

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    1. Thank you Jen. I had a lot of fun making this quilt. I'm glad it shows.

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  22. Beautiful quilt Karen!! I have that same C&S binding, nearly used it on mine, but it wasn't the right teal for the super-deep teal in my quilt! It seems we kaleidoscopers were really on the same wavelength (or should I say prism LOL) with our renditions of Cheryl's quilt! I, too, did multi-colour (just 2, not 3 though) circles, and Yvonne and I both did Dot to Dot quilting... :-) Love the outdoor shots on 'the' lake...which one is it? I'm thinking northern part of Lake Michigan or Huron with it being still frozen...I plan to take mine to Lake Erie, on whose shore I live, south of Detroit. :-)

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    1. Thanks Sandra. It's fun seeing all the different versions of the quilts but for me (us) the Kaleidoscopes are especially fun to see. They're all so different and all so beautiful! The beach is along the northern portion of Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. It seldom freezes so I really wanted to get some photos there. I finished my quilt ahead of time just in case it warmed up and thawed. The next week it did so I timed these well.

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  23. Great looking quilt. And how marvelous to be near water and snow! : )

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    1. Thank you June. I've always thought if it's going to be cold we might as well have snow! Yes, being near water is marvelous and we are grateful for it every day.

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  24. This is a beautiful quilt. I love the colours you used and the placement of the colours.

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  25. Wow! The quilt is gorgeous and what a wonderful location for a photo!

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    1. Thank you Patty. It was a perfect day for a photo shoot. I got lucky!

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  26. I adore your colourful version, really made me think of the kaleidoscopes I had a child. The colours and the prints are so well balanced, I am having hard time believing that you used scraps for this. The binding is beautiful too, the dots are prefect! Enjoy your new quilt!

    -Soma

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    1. Thank you Soma. I'm glad you remember kaleidoscopes this way too! Yes, the color pieces were scraps. I'm pleased you see balance. I started with 3 prints from Carolyn Friedlander; a blue, an orange, and a yellow-green. Then I searched my scrap bins for prints that went with these. The background, the stars and the pluses were yardage, of course.

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  27. Fantastic kaleidoscope quilt! Congratulations on such a beautiful finish :)

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    1. Thanks so much Louise. It was a fun quilt to make and bonus - I learned how to spell kaleidoscope!

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  28. Love your multi-color version of this quilt. Thanks for sharing.

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  29. Karen, your Kaleidoscope quilt is stunning. I love your fabric choice. What a wonderful quilt!

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    1. Thanks so much Heide. It was fun to play with the colors.

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  30. This is beautiful! It really does remind me of peering into a kaleidoscope and seeing all those bright fun colors sprinkled and mirrored in the tube :)

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    1. Thank you Tish. Kaleidoscopes always seem so magical as the colors change.

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  31. A gorgeous interpretation of a great pattern. I love your colour placement and the way the binding sets it off beautifully. I haven't done jagged line quilting before, it looks great on the quilt, perfect.

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    1. Thanks Kate. It took me about one minute to decide on the binding!

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  32. Beautiful result! I love your use of colour, the shades you have chosen and the restful places between. Gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks so much Ruth. I played with several options but yes, I like the calm between the rings too.

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  33. Wow, controlled scrappy really looks great in this pattern! Beautiful colors!

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    1. Thank you Emily. Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts does controlled scrappy so well. I was going for that look and one of the reasons I went with these colors is because I had enough blue, orange and green scraps to make it work.

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  34. Love the colors you chose for this.

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  35. Your version is so pretty, and the jagged edge quilting, perfect!

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    1. Thanks Rhona. It's a fun quilting pattern to do, too!

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  36. I love your fabric choices for this beauty! What a gorgeous and fun quilt!

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    1. Thanks Lorna. It was fun playing with my options.

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  37. I love your colors and the quilting is perfect.

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    1. Thank you Pat. That Wheaten in your photo is beautiful! We sure do miss ours.

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  38. I just love your color placement in this quilt! It's a gorgeous quilt pattern to begin with, but your colors make it glow!! Well done!

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    1. Thank you so much Kitty. The more I played with color in the software program the more options I continued to find! I like this decision, too.

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  39. I love, love the colors and the color placement in this one! So gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you Jennifer. I had fun playing with all the options.

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  40. Beautiful version ! I love how you played with colours.

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  41. All of my favorite colors in one quilt. It's beautiful!

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    1. Thank you Julie. It was fun to make this and participate in the hop.

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  42. I love your version of this quilt. It's stunning!

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    1. Thank you so much Diane. It's been fun seeing how everyone is interpreting the patterns in the book.

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  43. Your quilt is gorgeous! Love your colors and how well they work together. Great job! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you Jodi. I had fun playing with color options and how to use them.

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  44. I love your quilts in the wild photos! I love your quilt too but I think your photos are brilliant. Funny, I was thinking of a postage stamp quilt too, Liberty scraps would be perfect, and I have quite a few from my epp quilt, still a work in progress.

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    1. Thank you! My husband and I had such a fun adventure on that frozen, windy beach. The Grand Traverse Bay doesn't freeze too often and I really wanted to get my photos there.

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