

The same motif repeats along the width of the fabric depending on the width of your pattern repeat, the number of times you find it along the width of the fabric varies (more times for short fabric repeats, only once for wide fabric repeats). The design between two motifs, from the beginning of a motif to the beginning of the next one, marked here with the yellow lines, is a “pattern repeat”.

This motif repeats three times on my fabric. The first thing you have to do is to choose a motif on your fabric, near the selvedge (see the flowers outlined in yellow above) count how many times the same motif (with the same orientation) repeats along the selvedge, on the entire length of your fabric.
Kaleidoscope quilt how to#
Here is how to find the pattern repeat and how to measure it. I have below one yard of a medium size print fabric. Instead of a fabric with 4 repeats, you can use a fabric with only 2 pattern repeats. If you are new to this technique, it is great to start with a small project and I am going to show you how to use such small piece of fabric to create a few wonderful blocks. If you want to sew a big bed quilt, you need a lot of fabric, but do you know that you can create a few kaleidoscope blocks even from half yard or one yard of fabric, if it has a short pattern repeat? The easiest kaleidoscope is the one that requires 4 pattern repeats lengthwise. You can use how many repeats you want, the more repeats, the more complex the work.

From 4 repeats you can cut squares and create square blocks, from 6 repeats or 8 repeats you cut triangles and create hexagons or octagons. Depending on how many repeats you have on your fabric, you can create different types of kaleidoscope blocks. When you say KALEIDOSCOPE, you say PATTERN REPEAT.Ī pattern repeat is the design that repeats on fabric, lengthwise and crosswise, so it has a certain length and width. Have you seen my latest kaleidoscope quilt patterns? If this technique is new to you, check out the patterns then come back here for a few tips.
