Kaleidoscope

A very productive day in the sewing room yesterday, half the blocks sewn. I sewed one block at a time so I could keep each set of eight triangles together.  A little slower going but I was enjoying the process.  No two blocks are the same so far,  just like turning a kaleidoscope.
I remember my mother making a kaleidoscope for me when I was a little girl. I kinda remember begging for one I saw in the five and dime store and not getting it but she made one that was so much better.  She had some narrow strips of mirrors but I remember them being dark and not at all like a real mirror.  Anyway she taped these three long mirrors into a triangle then slid them into a sturdy cardboard tube that was exactly the right size because the long triangle did not rattle around, then she fastened a circle of stiff plastic inside the tube and we put some sequins and other little trinkets in and topped the end off with another piece of plastic that she scuffed up with steel wool so it was translucent.  She cut an eye hole in a piece of cardboard and taped it to the other end.  Light could get in but it was cloudy enough that I couldn't see things around the house. It was better than a store bought kaleidoscope and it kept me busy for hours,  she made another one for my brother because she knew we would fight over it.  My kids even played with it.

Every turn or tap of the kaleidoscope and the design would change. Cherished childhood memories.
--Ann--