Paula Nadelstern on National Quilting Day

Through searching blogs on Quilting Bloggers (see link on right border), I discovered the Empire State Quilt Guild Show at FIT which was held this past Saturday and Sunday. When I saw that Paula Nadelstern was the speaker on Saturday, I said I don't care if my husband hates it when I go into the city, I'm there! Her talk was very interesting, informative and amusing. I was surprised to hear her say that she didn't consider herself a great artist, she can't draw that well. She was not a great technical seamstress, her points don't always match and she isn't very neat. I was so happy to hear all these things because I have all these traits too! The other great assertion that she made was that in her book she did not consider any method whatsoever of constructing or quilting cheating.

She showed this picture of a rug in a very upscale hotel in Houston. Many people at Quilt Market noticed it and told Paula how much it reminded them of her kaleidescope quilt designs. When Paula checked it out she knew they had stolen her design. It turned out that a decorator had photocopied a picture from her book, taken it to the rug company and asked them to make a rug out of it. At first, lawyers told her she didn't have a prayer against suing a big company, but Paula persisted and she won! The lesson that she wanted to share with us is that it is well worth the $45.00 to register your original designs if they are not published in a book. She won her case only because she had published them and that was her copyright.

This was a quilt Paula had on display from her Puzzle Quilts book. There are pairs of blocks that are constructed exactly the same but I can't tell even after she revealed which ones they were.


Here are pictures of the other quilts on display at the show that really caught my eye for one reason or another.

I always love the horse themed quilts. This was done by Diana Berthold for the Hampton Classic. I must have a hundred pictures of my daughters jumping fences like this at local shows that I'll have to turn into quilts. The paint horse below is called No Hour Lost by JoAnne Powell. It reminded of a horse named Kaleidescope that we used to see showing on the New Jersey circuit.

This is called Undulating Swirl. The metallic thread quilting on this piece was amazing! I also loved the movement the placement of the black half circles created.

This is a blooming 9 patch done with Kaffe Fasset Fabrics by Jody Beitzel. I am always on the lookout for quilt designs that are relatively easy construction wise but have alot of visual impact.

This is Marty's Ties by Renee Kane Fields. It was made for a colleague of hers on his retirement out of all his ties since he wouldn't be wearing them that often after he retired. It reminded me of those skirts we wore in the seventies and one of the first quilts I made. My niece lost her fiancee in a tragic accident a few months before they were supposed to be married. She brought me his boxer shorts and wanted me to make them into a quilt. I thought she was nuts at first but in the end I was glad that I was able to make something that brought her comfort.

This New York Beauty titled Fortune Wheels by Anna Sinitsyna was awesome. These blocks seem so difficult to me, I'll have to try it to challenge myself someday. There's that someday again.



This is Monster Mash by Lauren Dietrich. I love the bight colors and whimswical monstoers. It reminded me of the two Eric Carle quilts I'm making for my daughter's kindergarten class.

Purple Jane by Debra Bevin





Blue Sky and Sunshine by Anna Krassy

While waiting for Paula to start her lecture, there was a slide show of a number of quilts inspired by Brenda Papadakis' book about Jane Stickley's Dear Jane quilts. The two quilts above were in the slide show and also on display at the FIT show. Another was done in all blue and white so I bought a pack of fat quarters to make my own once again to save for someday. I think I love just about anything that is blue, it is definitely the predominant color in my stash.

This was a wonderful day, well worth the admission fee. The icing on the cake came at about 3:30 that afternoon as I was buying my late lunch in a deli on 7th avenue. My daughter Kelly called to tell me that her boyfriend had proposed to her! Now I get to make that other wedding quilt (see Wedding Bell Blues from 3/12) and I get to plan another wedding! The only thing more fun for me than shopping for fabric is shopping, planning and making stuff for a wedding. I better enjoy this one while it lasts 'cause I won't have it again until granddaughters!