Kaleidoscope Quilt Block Assembly

To begin the block assembly process for the kaleidoscope quilt, I actually laid out the triangles that form the 56 octagons. The intent is to alternate between light and dark or light and medium colors, and I wanted to be sure I had enough of the different combinations to work out. I ended up pairing some dark and medium triangles together, too.

I then sewed together pairs of triangles. In the photograph below, you can see the stacks of triangles - some pinned, ready to be sewn together and some stitched and pressed. I ironed the triangle pair such that the seam folded onto the darker fabric.

Next, I formed half of the octagon by sewing the pairs from above together. The picture below shows the front and back of the pieces. You can see that the center seam has to be ironed toward the lighter fabric.

At this point, I did not trim anything (see the overhanging seams in the pictures above?). The full octagon was formed by stitching the two halves together. The seam allowance was pressed entirely to one side.

One thing I have not worked out about this block is how to avoid having a thick knob of fabrics in the center of the block. This is where 8 pieces of fabric come together. I tried splitting the seam allowance after sewing together the two halves (half the seam allowance goes to each side). But, the fabric would not press flat.