I just got my kaledoiscope quilt back from Alison at Sew What Else.

You can see the progress I made here and here, as I worked on this quilt, beginning last summer, which is based on the Carrie Nelson pattern, Shiny Brite.

I picked it up on Thursday and thanks to a long car trip this weekend, visiting the Bruce Peninsula to see family, I was able to get the binding stitched down completely.  It was a perfect activity for the car, although being covered by a quilt on a day that hit well above 30 might have been disastrous but for well-tuned air conditioning.

I really like it.  Alison captured the fun, child-friendly vibe of this quilt perfectly.  Each kaledoscope block is accented with a free hand swirl while the small cream corner squares have a tiny little flower in them.  It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but works to bring together the busy, scappy colours and blend them into a coherent whole.

The border, with its fussy cut gingerbread houses, is quilted with cross-hatching, which is a nice counterpoint to the more fluid design used in the quilt centre..

This is intended for good friends of ours, who have three little girls.   I can hear their dad now.  “Just what I need in this house – more pink!”  Yup, my thoughts exactly 🙂

I finished the quilt with a bias cut binding, using one of the pink fabrics I also used for the blocks.  The pink and white Tanya Whelan print reminds me of candy canes and I thought it finished the edge perfectly.

On the back, I used an all-over pink and magenta chevron.  It’s almost as cute from the back as it is on the front, because the cream thread really pops against the bright pink.

In case anyone beside myself is keeping count, this is another UFO, which makes it number three for 2014 (2 quilts, one smocked outfit).