Eighteenth Finish of 2011: Kitty Kaleidoscope Quilt

Oh. My. Gosh. At one point, I thought I would never finish this quilt and look! I completed it just in time for it to be my final finish of 2011! I can hardly believe it! What a great way to end 2011.

When I first heard about Don’t Call Me Betsy’s Kaleidoscope Quilt Along in June 2011, little did I know that it would be one of my biggest quilting challenges to date. The pattern was stunning and I was super excited about my first Quilt Along. After rummaging in my stash, I decided to make a twin-sized quilt in blues and purples for my daughter’s Big Girl Bed. (Although right now it’s more like mommy’s Unplanned Nap Bed, since my daughter isn’t ready for her Big Girl Bed yet.) Anyways, I had my heart set on making a bed-sized quilt in my daughter’s colors. I procrastinated starting because I had never used templates before. Thankfully, my mom loaned me her templates once she was done with the cutting. It was then that I learned an important lesson: I do not like working with templates. In fact, I loathe it. Nevertheless, I plodded through the cutting and finally made it to the piecing stage. By that point, I had read that people were having trouble getting their blocks to lie flat. Luckily, my quilting motto is “if you can’t do it, fudge it.” I pinned and pressed and sewed and didn’t worry too much about the piecing being perfect. As a result, the quilt top came together pretty well. I started machine quilting it in October, but then set it aside while I focused on Christmas presents. After Christmas, I put every possible moment of leisure time into finishing this quilt. Don't ask me what time I went to bed last night.

I am extremely pleased with how this quilt turned out. It may not have been my favorite quilt to make, but it challenged me and still came out lovely. I especially like the color combination, the unexpected designs the quilting made, and the binding. The fabric for this quilt is a smattering of Paris Cats, some Kona solids, a couple of my favorite Lizzy House prints, and some other random prints.