Glad this part of the quilt is finished!

I'm attempting a Ricky Timms Kool Kaleidascope quilt for the KCRQF Display Case challenge and it's testing my skills! His book doesn't just hand you a pattern or even the template--instead it explains how to make both. So after reading and re-reading the book, I started making my strip sets (he calls them strata). Now keep in mind that on the 12 hr shop hop I did last April with Jane, Jessica and Heather, I'd been buying up any fabric I could find in the required colors. So I ran them all though the Accuquilt with varied widths on the strips and sewed for 2 days. Ended up with 20 strip sets--10 exact pairs. Made the first cut and quit. Not because I wasn't going to make the quilt, but because I had such a strong, visceral negative reaction to the combo of prints! Nasty--and not in the "nasty woman" sense either! So I got onto the Fabric Fanatics website (all batiks) and ordered a bunch from their sale section. I was able to salvage a few from my previous mess, but only 4.

So, take 2. And here is the first, biggest kaleidascope. I did realize after I started the first wedge that I had given myself a Y seam to deal with. They are doable, but no fun! This one is 48" across and the others will be 36" and 20". The two smaller ones will NOT have Y-seams! The background will be black and borders, if I use them, are undecided. Realized with these two last quilts that I've forced myself to really design my own quilts instead of just switching out colors on someone else's pattern. Much harder work but I like it!

Note: I did use the first set of strata to make 4 large tote bags for foster care children, a project the Miami County Quilters Guild just finished up.