Kaleidoscope Workshop with Paula Nadelstern"

                  "In the Middle of difficulty lies opportunity."  Albert Einstein

Paula with her fabulous snowflake quilt...each snowflake is made up of many small pieces to make the "kaleidoscope" effect.

     Today was the Paula Nadelstern all day workshop held at the "Quilt Among Friends" quilt shop in Arlington, TX.  What a great experience!!  I had purchased fabric earlier in the week that met the criteria of being bilateral (meaning when sliced up, would create a mirror image of itself).  But once I got there and saw what we were doing, I wanted fabric that was much more vibrant and rich...I bought some there and was really pleased with it.  I will still use my Pink and Lime Green, and am curious to see it put together using her techniques...

The workshop was titled "Simple Symmetry" and this is Paula's example of what we were going to be doing.  Each row consists of three finished symmetrical blocks...using very ornate and colorful fabric, cut up and sewn back together to get the kaleidoscope affect.  Each single block is made up of eight triangles which have been cut from identical repeated patterns in the fabric.  Several workshop students had the same fabric, some in different colors, and it was amazing to see the different patterns that emerged just from the selected areas that were put together.

This is one of my blocks, not sewn together yet, but will become my first row after doing two more exactly like this one.  And when the three blocks go together, you get a secondary design where each meets.

And here is the class with Paula showing off our blocks; you can see we were getting a little goofy by the end of the day!!  Great fun had by all!!