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In Kaleidoscope Kreator, open the digital landscape photo. A photo with strong lines and a greater depth of field will create the most interesting kaleidoscopes. Using one of the Square template shapes (Square (08) and Square (16) are the most popular), move the photo around in the workspace and watch the kaleidoscope preview window in the upper right corner of the screen. Click on the Preview button if you want to see a full-screen preview of the kaleidoscope.
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When you have found a kaleidoscope design to your liking, File>Save Workspace from the menu to save the position of your photo in the template. Enter a filename and click Save. (The file will be saved with a KKF extension, which is only readable by Kaleidoscope Kreator.)
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Place one of the inkjet fabric sheets in the printer tray, then select File>Custom Print Options>Print Poster from the menu. Specify a tile size of 8” and 2x2 (4) for the number of tiles. If your printer has a 1/8” printer margin, then you will need to add another 1/8” (0.125”) print margin in Kaleidoscope Kreator in order to get a good ¼” seam allowance around the tile. (If your printer has a 1/4” printer margin, then you don’t need to add an additional print margin in Kaleidoscope Kreator.) Kaleidoscope Kreator will print all four tiles, one right after the other so be ready to feed additional sheets of inkjet fabric through the printer. Tip: Practice printing on scrap paper first in draft mode to saveink!
Important: Do not rinse the fabric to set the ink yet! (The instructions will mention when to rinse the fabric later on.) Rinsing the fabric almost always results in some skewing of the fabric which makes it more difficult to sew the poster tiles together. Sew everything together first and then rinse. However, this means that you must be careful not to have any water make contact with the fabric or you may end up with watermarks which are impossible to remove. For this reason, we recommend working with a dry iron at least until the fabric has been rinsed and the ink set. Note: If the piece will never be washed, you do not have to rinse the fabric at all.
- In your favorite image editing program, crop and resize the twelve photos for the borders in the following sizes:
For the top and bottom borders:
Four 5” x 3” horizontal photos
Two 6” x 3” horizontal photos
For the left and right borders:
Four 3” x 5” vertical photos
Two 3” x 6” vertical photos
You should be able to fit the three photos for each border on one sheet of inkjet fabric. In your photo imaging program, arrange the two 5” x 3” photos vertically on the sheet and the 6” x 3” photo horizontally below the other two. Remember to leave at least ¼” around each edge of the photos (or ½” between photos) for seam allowance! Print according to manufacturer’s instructions for your fabric sheets.
- Still in the image editing program, crop and resize the four corner photos into 3” squares. Arrange with ¼” for seam allowance around each edge of the photo and print on one sheet of inkjet fabric. Print according to manufacturer’s instructions for your fabric sheets.
- Open the seven photos that will be fused over the kaleidoscope and crop and resize each to a 2” square. Arrange on one sheet (no need for seam allowance) and print on inkjet fabric according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Remove paper backing from the sheet of the seven 2” square photo sheet and apply fusible web to the back. (You only need to apply enough fusible web to cover the printed portion of the fabric.) Cut the squares out with no border or seam allowance. Paint around the edges of the squares with metallic paint. Let dry.
- While the paint is out, also paint the strips of scrap fabric. Let dry and press with a hot iron to set the paint. Fold in half lengthwise with back sides together (i.e., painted side should be facing out) and press.
- Remove the paper backing from the four kaleidoscope sheets from the poster print (from Step 3). Trim so that there is ¼” seam allowance around each tile. (Use a quilting ruler to measure ¼” from the edge of the photo and cut with a rotary cutter.)
- Lay out the kaleidoscope tiles on your work surface in the correct arrangement. You will sew the rows together first, i.e. the top two tiles and then the bottom two tiles. Press back the right seam allowance of the top left tile, apply 1/4" Steam-A-Seam2 to the turned back edge, then line up and press onto the left seam allowance of the top right tile. Open the fold and sew the seam along the fold line. Press the seam allowance to the left (in the direction of the original fold.)
Repeat the process for the bottom two tiles, folding back the left seam allowance of the bottom right tile, applying Steam-A-Seam2 tape, pressing into place on the right seam allowance of bottom left tile and sewing the seam along the fold line. Press the seam allowance to the right (in the direction of the original fold.)
Lastly, fold back the top seam allowance of the bottom row, apply Steam-A-Seam2 tape to the turned back edge and press into place on the bottom seam allowance of the top row making sure to line up the design and nestle the seam allowances into each other in the center. Sew the seam along the fold and press the seam allowance towards the bottom row.
- Lay the painted & folded strips (from Step 8) along the sides of the quilt with the raw edges lined up. Baste into place. Do the same for the top and bottom. This will create a “pin stripe” around the kaleidoscope in the final quilt.
- Remove the paper backing from all of the border and corner photos. Trim the photos so that there is ¼” seam allowance around each one. Arrange the photos around the kaleidoscope on the work surface in a pleasing arrangement. The longer (i.e. 6” x 3”) photos should be placed in the middle of the borders.
- Sew the photos together for the left and right side borders with ¼” seam allowance. Sew to the sides of the kaleidoscope and press seam allowance towards the border.
- Sew the photos together for the top and bottom borders, including the corner squares. Press the seam allowances towards the center of the border strips. Sew to the top and bottom of the kaleidoscope pressing seam allowance towards the border.
- Remove the paper backing from the 2” square photos and arrange as desired on the face of the kaleidoscope. Fuse into place, then straight stitch around each square about 1/8” from the edge with metallic thread.
- (Optional) If you plan on washing the quilt or if it will be anywhere near water, rinse the fabric according to the manufacturer’s directions to set the inkjet inks. If the fabric skews, be sure to block the quilt back into a square shape as it dries.
- Layer the backing fabric face down, then the batting and the quilt top face up. Quilt as desired.
- Finish the quilt with a facing rather than a binding.
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