Originally Posted by borntoquilt
I know this has probably been asked before but what is the difference between kaleidoscope and stack and wack? Does k-scope use less fabric. Do you need specific ruler? They look like a blast to make and turn out so beautiful. But I am always concerned about wasting fabric.
I have not made a stack and whack, but that was pretty much the method we used. We cut 8 repeats of the pattern of our fabric (it takes a lot of fabric!!), then we stacked the 8 repeats on top of each other. In order to keep them lined up perfectly we took a needle and thread and pulled a thread through the exact same spot on each piece of fabric. We did this all over the fabric to keep it stabilized. This was the most tedious part. Next we took the kaleidoscope ruler and decided how big we wanted to make our blocks. The ruler and mirror help you to preview how some of your blocks will look. Once you have decided how big to make your block, you cut off a strip the required width, then use the ruler, moving it from one side to the other and cut the triangles. Depending on how wide your repeat is and the size of the blocks you decide to make, you can get many blocks out of your fabric.
The repeat of the pattern of my fabric was 15". So, I cut 8 15" wide strips of my fabric and stacked them on top of each other. I decided to make 10" blocks. I cut a 5 1/2" strip off of my fabric stack and then cut my triangles from it.
So, the method I used to make my triangles was definitely a "stack and whack" method. I think if I had moved my ruler and mirror around and had fussy cut my triangles it would have been less a stack and whack method. I just used my mirrors to audition fabrics to see which one I wanted to use for my quilt.