Customer Reviews

Snowflakes & Quilts

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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Paula has done it again with this just awesome book. This book from start to finish goes into extreme detail on how she creates these stunning creations. Blue and white fabric is the media of the day with her and she highly recommends only using those cool colors - leaving the brights for other creations. Just from reading the book carefully and doing one of her pattern snowflakes at the end you can get a good idea of the design process. Be warned though - this is a quilt for the intermediate or advance quilter who likes precise involved work. This is not a stack and whack kind of thing. Or for that matter, a quilt you can do in a day. One snowflake could easily take you 20-40 hours to get just the way you want it. But every one is a unique piece of art that really stands alone. When you put them into your own set they become simply breath taking. Your finish product will have all your friends saying - How in the world did you do that?? I recently spent 5 days with Paula learning the technique and getting to know her. She's a wonderful woman - creative AND gracious. I would highly recommend this technique for any quilter who wants to fall in love with snow again - just like when you were a kid. Be careful though - its VERY addicting so you might want to throw some extra meals in the freezer just in case!!

Paula Nadelstern in her latest book takes the kaleidoscope concept a step further with her stunning representations of snowflakes in fabric. When you first open this book, you will ooh and ahh at the beautiful images. Then, as you look a bit closer, the oohs may turn to small groans as you realize just how detailed these snowflakes are. But, don't let yourself become too intimidated by this detail and the multitude of tiny scraps of fabric that she puts together. She does a wonderful and complete job explaining every step of the process and with careful reading, patience, and perseverance an intermediate quilter can create a blizzard of their own.

The first section of the book deals with the technical issues - there is a list of tools, an introduction to the geometric principles of hexagon construction, a primer on fabric choices, and a very informative and valuable discussion of template creation. She points out several different ways to simplify the creation process and while she rightfully stresses the importance of precision, she also explains *why* that precision is so important with examples of what can go wrong.

Once the hard stuff is out of the way, you can begin to explore the creative aspect of designing snowflakes. Paula's designs are based on actual photomicrographs of snowflakes taken around the turn of the century and she includes a number of these images in this chapter and explains the different types of crystal formations and how these can be translated into fabric. In this section there is also an extensive discussion of colors and pattern textures and the role they play in the various parts of the snowflake. The image library is especially helpful to quilters not familiar with kaleidoscope designs and how to recognize elements that work well with the mirror imaging.

Even though the vital information has been presented in the previous chapters, rather than abandoning the reader at this point, Nadelstern concludes with a workbook section with examples of four snowflake designs. The first example includes step by step instructions for creating the snowflake from drafting to sewing the pieces together. The other three designs do not have the same instructional section but do include a fabric palette, a complete template diagram, and a close up of the finished snowflake.

If you are sweltering in the heat like I am, pick up this book and cool off a little. Even if you decide the blocks are out of your league, the pictures are truly worth looking at.

This book showcases intricately pieced quilts that at a distance appear to be amazingly accurately rendered snowflakes, but upon closer inspections prove to be composed of thousands of carefully chosen bits of fabric cleverly arranged for maximum effect. Each snowflake is actually 6 identical 60 degree triangles, that are each composed of hundreds of tiny slivers of fabric. Paula Nadelstern is an artist extraordinary, who painstakingly will you step you though the time consuming process of pattern drafting, fabric selection, and piecing strategies. It is a tribute to her excellent instructions, that despite the daunting amount of work involved, the look is achievable by a very determined, intermediate quilter. Nadelstern does provide a couple of basic patterns, but it is clear that she really wants you to draft your own, and that is the thrust of the book. This book is recommended for quilters who are comfortable with the basics, ready to make a truly stunning piece and are willing to invest the time and effort to make it happen. It can also be appreciated by someone who just wants to be wowed by one of the big names in quilting and is interested in gaining insight into her artistic process. For those of you who already own her previous book on Kaleidoscopes, you will recognize this book is the same subject material, except it only covers blue six-side kaleidoscopes and goes into great detail on how to make it look like a snowflake. The core set of techniques for drafting and construction are essentially the same so if you are not wild about making snowflakes, you won't find much new. Highly recommend.

The description does not tell you this is a print on demand issue. This is not printed like the original on glossy paper highlighting the beautiful images. The pictures are all on flat paper as if you printed your photos on your home computer.
While the technical aspects of the book are perfectly acceptable, the artistic aspects are totally lost. Huge disappointment.

I'm a big Paula Nadelstern fan, so when I was given the opportunity to review this book, I was flying high! Add that to being a big snowflake fan and a snow fan in general, well, you can just imagine how much fun this has been.

I have a few of her other books on Kaleidoscope Quilts (another thing I love - Kaleidoscopes), so I was thinking this book probably wasn't that different in scope and subject. Oh my, was I wrong!

Yes, many of the same techniques apply, such as making templates the `Paula' way in order to secure a successful hexagon, but I learned so much about snowflakes, I was enthralled. I don't sit down and read many quilting books. I look at the pictures, and thumb through the directions and then put it on the shelf for when I want to make a quilt like that. However, I found myself reading this book as if it was a novel and I couldn't wait to turn the page!

Paula talks about the science of how snowflakes form and at first glance that seems `oh so boring' but not when Paula writes about it! She might as well have been sitting here in my sewing room with me, just telling me about snowflakes. Again - enthralled.

She readily admits up front that she's not that good at sewing, which is so hard to believe, but I guess she would know.

She gives good advice for when our hexagons turn out wonky. She's had a few wonky hexagons in her life, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one!

As you already know, her quilts are beautiful and the photo's in this book do not disappoint. But along with photos of her quilts, she includes photomicrographs of the real thing. We all know No Two Snowflakes Are Alike. This is not a fanciful saying, it's been scientifically proven by the Snowflake Man (also known as Wilson Alwyn Bentley) in 1885. He started studying snowflakes at the age of 19 and continued studying and photomicrographing them for the next 47 years!

In seeing the actual photo's of real snowflakes we can see two things - no two are alike, and while they are hexagonal and symmetrical, they are not perfectly so. Thus, relieving you of the burden of sewing a perfect snowflake. The imperfect nature of the snowflake can easily be assimilated into our quilts, simply by sewing as we do, not being robots sewing the perfect seam.

Paula tells us there are certain parts of the snowflakes that must be perfect (and she tells us how to achieve this) but there are other parts, such as the extensions that don't need to be perfect. That in fact, the very imperfections will bring life to our quilt.

Well, my fingers were itching to make a snowflake, I couldn't just read all about them, and not make one! Searching my stash for the perfect fabrics, I pulled out a few pieces of fabric, probably less than I should. But to make one snowflake, I wasn't going to buy all new fabric. If it turns out and I love it, then I'll buy all new fabric. No sacrifice too small for this Book Reviewer!

Karen Gass for the February 2011 issue of "The Quilt Pattern Magazine"