K is for Kaleidoscopes – They’re Fun!

Good morning and Happy Monday!

News First

This week, we’ll still have “intermittent” programming here on Needle ‘n Thread. This will be back to normal (whatever that is!) next Monday!

For those who inquired about the felt heart kits that I mentioned last week, those will be available a little later, depending on quantities left in stock after the workshop this past weekend. I’ll post here on the blog once they are available.

ABC Archive Series

Today, we’ll continue the ABC series delving into the archives of Needle ‘n Thread! The blog has been around for 20 years, so there’s a lot of information on the website here, and many embroidery projects, ideas, tips, free patterns, and more. With this series, I wanted to revitalize some of the past content for those who haven’t seen it or who would enjoy a little reminder that it’s there.

We’re on K! And K is for Kaleidoscopes…

When I first started dabbling in Kaleidoscopes, they were a kind of off-shoot of the “zentangle / mandala” trend in the doodling and art world. They really hadn’t come into the embroidery world full-force, but the whole idea of embroidering these types of design took off pretty quickly – as most arts and crafts trends do, thanks to social media – and several books have come out since then, focusing on these types of designs.

They perhaps aren’t as trendy now as they were. But, to me, they still hold a definite appeal for both design and execution in embroidery. They’re fun to work! And they can be very striking. They offer a wide scope for choice of stitches, threads, and colors.

And they can be finished in myriad ways, from framing to upholstering, pillow covers, notebook covers, embroidered clothing – you name it, you can have a lot of fun with this kind of design!

You can find several embroidered kaleidoscope projects here on Needle ‘n Thread, along with free designs. Some of the designs for the projects highlighted on the website, though, come from my pattern collection called Favorite Kaleidoscopes, which is available as a downloadable PDF here.

This Coloris Kaleidoscope above (there’s a free pattern for it linked to below) was conceived in order to test the new Coloris line of DMC threads that came out around that time.

Coloris threads are variegated stranded cotton with very short spans of variegation. They worked pretty well with this kaleidoscope, I thought! The repeat design shows off what the short spans of variegation can do.

Birthday Bash was rather a bit wild for me. I don’t often embroider with loads of yellow, as I did in this design. The colors reminded me of a birthday party!

Tulips Festival was my favorite kaleidoscope embroidery, hands down. I loved working with the colors and the threads, and I was pretty pleased with the outcome. This is worked in silk on linen.

Another favorite was Party in Provence. I enjoyed incorporating beads, and I really liked the color scheme on this one, too.

Octoberfest was an exploration in color combining and color changes, manipulating combinations of multiple threads in the needle at one time. This project ended up being a full project e-book. I used House of Embroidery threads for my sample, but the design can be worked with any line of threads. For example, DMC Variations would be a good choice.

Free Kaleidoscope Patterns

There are a few free downloads here on Needle ‘n Thread for kaleidoscope patterns, too.

With Feathered Fourths, I was playing around with “square” kaleidoscopes – mirrored repeats – imagining what could be done with goldwork threads with this type of design. I didn’t stitch it, but the design is available if you want to!

The design for the Coloris Kaleidoscope (the stitched sample is shown above) is available in this article. Scroll towards the end for the downloadable PDF.

This Hearty Kaleidoscope design is just in time for Valentine’s Day! You can stitch this by then, right?

If you want to get ahead on autumn stitching, you can download this design for Autumn Leaves & Acorns. I think this is a super fun design. I’ve thought about doing it as a stitch-along here on the website. I’m still toying with the idea.

Seventh Heaven is a seven repeat design. When I drew it, I drew it in white on a dark background. It looked pretty neat. I don’t know if I’d stitch it in white on dark fabric, but… I suppose it could be done!

More Delves

Folks have written and asked for an Index of this ABC of Archived Articles on Needle ‘n Thread series, and yes, I will put together an index for you so that you can easily explore all the articles from this series as it develops. I haven’t constructed the index yet, but I will, and then I’ll publish it and let you know where to find it.

Coming Up!

We must talk tools. Good tools are an inevitable, enjoyable, and fascinating aspect of any hobby, embroidery included. I’m working on bringing in a line of lovely wood tools, hand crafted here in the Midwest from exotic woods into beautiful, functional tools that lend not just to the beauty of your tool box, but to the efficiency of your work. More on that soon!

I hope your Monday is off to a lovely start!