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Dresden Kaleidoscope - How to Look for Repeats And Other Tips

Dresden Kaleidoscope - How to Look for Repeats And Other Tips

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Old 10-06-2011, 10:09 PM
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I have been asked to do a tutorial on how to find repeats and to clarify some things that I didn't put in the book.

So... How To Find Repeats:

Here is the fabric I am going to use for this tutorial

Here is the fabric folded so you can see a quarter yard. I cut out the template section from a half sheet of paper so you can see what I see. Here is a flower that stands out for me from the rest. First you must choose a feature that stands out for you. Then look up the fabric to see if you can see the exact same flower again. if not up then look to the right or catecorner to see if you can find the same feature. It might be a leaf or a large flower or a group of leaves etc, When buying fabric you can look at a quarter yard and see how many repeats you can find. I found 4 in a half yard so out of this yard I can get this same repeat 16 times. But I can also find other repeats and continue to use this yard for more DKS
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267381[/ATTACH]

This is the spot I chose. This has a flower that is in the center. When I find a place I like I put a pin in it so I can find it easily later. I like to use my clear template and trace out all my blades before I go back and cut them all out. So the pins make it easy to find them when I am ready to cut them out.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267382[/ATTACH]

This is the clear plastic template I use. I send them out in my free templates. All you have to do is send me your postal address in a PM. DO NOT put your address on the open part of this forum.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267383[/ATTACH]

I use a fine point sharpie and trace some of the features. This is so you can pick it up and put it down on the next repeat and match it up with the template. Then you can trace around the template again for each blade.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267384[/ATTACH]

Now back to the fabric. This is one of the spots I like. I see the yellow flower at the base. It will repeat nicely around the center of the DK. And the pink flowers in the center will repeat well. You want to avoid a flower that takes up too much of the blade. You need some variety in color and in shapes.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267385[/ATTACH]

This is another option I like alot. You have the two leaves in the center and you also have the yellow at the base. The pink at the top will also give you a punch of color.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267386[/ATTACH]

When you are auditioning your blades you want to look for features that will stand out.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267387[/ATTACH]

This one is ok but I would be concerned that the flowers might be too overpowering when you get all the blades sewn together.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267388[/ATTACH]

This one is too bland for my taste. I thought when I first looked at this fabric that I would choose the daisies but the white is too bland. I am afraid when you get the blades together there won't be enough interest to make it pretty. But I may be wrong. I just think you will have a field of daisies. This would be fine for fabric but not for a DK where you should have some features that stand out to create the Kaleidsocope look.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267389[/ATTACH]

This is just too much yellow. You don't have any distinct features to stand out for the Kaleidoscope look. the daisy in the center is good but since it is white it won't stand out much. I do like to put leaves or petals so they are standing up like this one is. But there isn't enough features for interest in this one.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]267390[/ATTACH]
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attachment-267332.jpe   attachment-267333.jpe   attachment-267334.jpe   attachment-267335.jpe   attachment-267336.jpe  

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Old 10-06-2011, 10:10 PM
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Wow! Thanks
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Old 10-06-2011, 10:50 PM
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I like to take a pic of the fabric. Then put it in your pc. You can print off this pic onto copy paper. Then use your template and find a good spot and cut it out of the paper. You can repeat this as many times as you like. I feel you can get a good idea for what it will look like if you use at least 3 or 4 paper blades.

You can sew and iron the paper version just like the fabric.

This way you can test out your fabric without having to cut it. You can play with finding good places on the paper version before committing to the fabric.
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Old 10-07-2011, 01:36 AM
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Thanks for sharing that is so neat. Never got a chance to see the others.
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Old 10-07-2011, 01:38 AM
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Wow - THANKS - that was EASY to understand - and I love your explanations on WHY you should use certain pieces and not others.
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Old 10-07-2011, 03:16 AM
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Thank you so much for the tutorial. It is very helpful and easy to follow.
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Old 10-07-2011, 03:40 AM
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Thanks for the tutorial! Very well explained!!
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Old 10-07-2011, 03:50 AM
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Thanks, I needed this! Well done!!
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Old 10-07-2011, 04:29 AM
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Thanks!
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Old 10-07-2011, 04:52 AM
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Thanks Rhonda you always make it simple enough for me to understand
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