Magical Fabric Art: Spellwork & Wishcraft through Patchwork Quilting and Sewing [Paperback]

Sandra McCraw Scarpa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1998

Wrap a quilt of protection around you and picture yourself shielded with safety. Hang a love quilt above your bed to attract your perfect partner. Even if you've never sewed a stitch in your life, you can create a free-form quilt to serve as a dynamic talisman of your desires. You will learn to create a lively, vital piece of work that concentrates magical energy into a beautiful work of art.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Quilts have long been used as protection from the chill of winter, and even today with electric heating, quilts are still given as gifts on important occasions such as births and weddings. These simple handcrafts can elicit powerful feelings of protection and memories of love, and the magic within them is undeniable. Magical Fabric Art shows you how to build on this foundation to create symbolic and practical talismans with "only the simplest cutting and sewing ... sharp scissors and new needles." By including some modest preparations to charge the materials with your intent and by giving some extra consideration to the timing of your project, you can construct a quilt for love, a quilt for protection, or many other possible projects that draw on the energies of your creative abilities and focus them into a fabric of your own design. --Brian Patterson

About the Author

Sandra McCraw Scarpa has had a life-long interest in the nature mysteries and has read, studied, and traveled during her adult life to pursue knowledge on these subjects.<br><br>She shares her interests, talents, and extensive library with her daughter, Lark, who writes on Wiccan and New Age subjects, as well. Sandra, with her daughter, Lark, has written a New Age/Wiccan romance novel, <I>Flames of Rapture</I>, and a novella, <I>Trick or Treat</I>. <br>

Product Details

• Paperback: 205 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (June 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156718653X
• ISBN-13: 978-1567186536
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Fabric Art, March 6, 2000

By 

Rosa Pearl (ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magical Fabric Art: Spellwork & Wishcraft through Patchwork Quilting and Sewing (Paperback)

Magical Fabric Art a wonderful book for the beginner to expert. Ms. Scarpa walks you through each step and enables you to start your magical project on the most desirable moon and day of the week. Whether your project is 8"x10" or a quilt for your King size bed, this book is packed with the information you need for your work turn into an enhanced magical talisman. She gives the beginner example rituals for dedicating their work as well as explaining candle magic, Chinese ideograms, gemstone use, deities, spells for attracting love, harmony, and protection. On top of all this wonderful information she includes the idea of turning your sewing chest into a workbox of power. Whether the reader is looking for a spell for healing, protection, attracting love or just increasing personal power, Ms. Scarpa has delivered it in this book! I, personally, do not see why one could not adapt her teachings in this book to include modifying and empowering business suits, protection on the hem of a child's shirt, or attraction symbols on your favorite out on the town outfit. Definitely a new way of thinking about ones personal fabric he or she wears daily! Thank you, Ms. Scarpa for sharing your traditions. RosaPearl, psychic/shaman

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Highway Robbery; I would give a negative rating if I could., April 21, 2009

By 

Ana Mardoll (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Magical Fabric Art: Spellwork & Wishcraft through Patchwork Quilting and Sewing (Paperback)

Magical Fabric Art / 1-56718-653-X

When Alice asked herself "What is the use of a book without pictures?", she was, I believe looking at this ridiculous excuse of a quilting book. I will never understand why pagan crafting books seem, more often than not, to be cheaply thrown together in an attempt to cash in on a perceived trend. Pagans are people too, and there is surely someone, somewhere, who is (A) pagan, (B) a quilter, and (C) competent to put together a decent quilting book. I suppose (D) (has time in which to accomplish this) is the limiting factor, because despite a world of wonderful, talented pagans, we keep getting this trash shoveled to us.

Why is this book so bad? This is a quilting book entirely without pictures. Oh, that's not entirely true - there are some center color plates showing off a six-piece log cabin wall quilt. That's it. Period. There are no blocks here. No applique. No quilting whatsoever.

The shtick of this book is that it will teach you how to create a magically empowered quilt. Question: Do you now, or have you ever owned, a 'Wicca 101' or an `introduction to paganism' book or anything written by Cunningham? If so, then you know everything this book has to offer already. You know what each color can represent. You know what each incense scent is associated with. You know which gods to invoke for your spells. You know what candle to use to symbolize your intent. (Obvious note: Quilting by candlelight is not something I recommend. Bright, non-flammable light is crucial to quilting. This book is going to cause someone to burn their house down by accident.) You know all this and you don't need it repackaged in a sugary cloying book pretending to be a quilter's guide while simultaneously thumbing its nose at quilters and telling them to bring their own blocks and patchwork because it isn't going to provide any new, creative blocks or patterns. You especially don't need a book which stupidly insists that a magical quilt can never, ever be washed or all the magic will be lost. The sheer stupidity of this shill burns my head.

This book is a complete joke and total highway robbery. I am infuriated at the publishing company that would churn out a quilting book with no quilt patterns and with magical 'advice' that was clearly cribbed from Cunningham's books. There is just no way that a genuine quilter would find this book to be helpful - there's almost no actual content, and what is here is second- and third-hand Wicca 101, with absolutely no quilting technique added at all.

What I would really, really like is a *real* quilting book for pagans. Something with, you know, unique blocks and actual techniques and piecing instructions. Something like every non-pagan themed quilt book I own, only for pagans. How novel. I guess I'll keep looking.

~ Ana Mardoll

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Ideas, January 30, 2009

By 

ILuvBooks "Krys" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Magical Fabric Art: Spellwork & Wishcraft through Patchwork Quilting and Sewing (Paperback)

This book is filled with wonderful ideas. It tells you how to create a magickal talisman from fabric and embellishments in a simple manner. You don't need a sewing machine for these, only using basic stitches. It is easy to follow and will make wonderful gifts. I will fore go some of the steps due to the fact I would like to be able to wash the talismans I make, since I have small children in the house. A wonderful book for the magickal sewer!