The Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap was the first swap I followed on Instagram.  I was pouring over the hashtag #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and trying to figure out what the heck was going on!  This swap has the claim of being the original swap where you are blind partnered (the recipient doesn’t know who is the maker) to make sweet mini quilts and thus, it had over 1000 participants…wow!

I had the pleasure of making a quilt for someone that liked V & Co fabrics and happened to have charm packs of the newest Simply Colorful and Simply Colorful II lines.  With the popularity of this swap, I felt some pressure to make something pretty nice….so I thought a Kaleidoscope design would be perfect.  It’s very striking and is perfect for some rainbow action 😉

The Kaleidoscope is a traditional paper-pieced pattern I got from Quilter’s Cache.  This is an amazing website with tons of FREE patterns!  The original pattern finishes at a 6″ block.  In order to fit the parameters of a mini, I shrank the pattern to 47% of the original to create a 3″ block. (I don’t know why 50% reduction didn’t work, but a little playing around helped me get to the size I wanted.) To plan out the colors and layout, I used this coloring sheet I found by Debbie Kratovil.  I think every quilt designer should have coloring sheets with their patterns.  They make life SO much easier!

TIP: When piecing together the blocks, there is quite a bit of fabric that ends up at the center.  It is quite thick and can be a nuisance to quilt over later.  Initially, I tried to grade the seams and by luck, saw that I could make a little rosette by opening my seams  back a 1/4″ and tuck the seams under as shown above.

To finish, I used gold thread to quilt (insert heart eyes emoji!!!)  I just love using metallic thread whenever I can.  It just adds that extra “something” special and matched with the gold dot backing.  For the binding, what else would be better than MORE V & Co…and in Teal Ombre?!?  The ombre was fun to use and made this design really pop.

Kaleidoscope Quilt – Completed

In return for sending off the Kaleidoscope,  I received this beautiful mini with extras from  @amandafech. Isn’t it so fun with the primary palette and appliqué work?  I am 3 for 3 with great swap experiences….all delivered on time with amazing work!  Hopefully, all of you have had positive swap experiences or will decide to join your first one 🙂  They are lots of fun!!!

I’m going to be a swap mama soon so I hope these good vibes carry over 😉

#MakeAQuiltMakeAFriend

Cristy