Fabricadabra - Simple Quilts, Complex Fabric Discover the Hidden Potential in Your Stash

Fabricadabra! Discover your fabric's hidden potential and sew complex-looking quilts that are easy to piece. Understand symmetry in fabrics and fool the eye with daring design strategies. Fussy cut prints to perfection with self-drafted templates and camouflage seams to get the “seemingly seamless” look made famous by quilter and fabric designer Paula Nadelstern's kaleidoscopic quilts. Example piecing diagrams show you how to quilt a visual spectacle for luminous effects.

Paula Nadelstern was the first contemporary quilt artist featured in a one-person exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum. She designs textile prints exclusively for Benartex, Inc. and travels extensively teaching her unique kaleidoscopic quiltmaking techniques. Paula lives in New York City.

Quilt Gallery
Design Matters
Design Strategies
Seemingly Seamless • Common Ground • The Butterfly Effect • Sea Foam • The Kaleidoscope Legacy • Details, Details, Details • Line
Fabric
Prima Donnas • Bilaterally Symmetrical • Pseudo Symmetrical • Medallion Layout • Directionals • Classic Stripes • Wacky Stripes • Ombré • Allovers • Prints • Reads Like a Solid—Also Known as Tonals • Black is the Best Black • Black & White • Weird Greens • More Good Stuff • Batiks
Silk • The Hand of Fabric • Sashing and Border Ideas
Piece Policies
Tools
Templates
The Reason for Templates • How to Make a Template • Types of Templates • The Template Fabric Interface • Marking Clues on a Template How to Mark the Fabric • How to Cut the Fabric • Continuous Templates • Drafting Angles
Strip Piecing
Detangling Angles
Faux Curves
Behavior Problems
The Final Girdle
About the Author