When I create, I need an eclectic mix of multitalented fabrics. It is, after all, my palette. Whether fabrics belong to different styles or are intrinsically compatible is not an issue for me. I practice “pieceful” coexistence. I love fabrics that tickle my imagination: designs with hyperabundant colors and charismatic patterns, prints that play well with both commercial and dyed stuff, textiles that sometimes set the stage and sometimes dance on it. I want it all, I want it now, and I make no excuses for the size of my stash. As I have often said, I feel sorry for the ones who don’t get it.

When it comes to fabric, I‘ve got a serious case of wonderlust: I marvel at beautiful, extraordinarily patterned textiles, the kind that gets me wondering what I can make with it. I’m in my happy place when I‘m nudging seemingly mutually exclusive designs into agreement, finding the junction where patterns dovetail. Being a maker has always been an irresistible precept for me because I crave the addictive, satisfying payoff when a vague idea becomes a solid product that can be shared with fellow makers.

The truth is, I don’t really sew very well, but I want it to look like I do. Among other things, fabricating this illusion means using reliable tools. Think of it as trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. It becomes a whole lot easier if one of the sticks is a match. Using the same tools consistently from the beginning of a project to the end is just plain common sense. So is making sure all of your measuring devices (rulers, graph paper, template plastic) agree with each other. Otherwise, your carefully measured pieces might not fit together.    

A quilter has as much right to think of herself as a designer as any other artist. The key is to arm yourself not only with attitude but with knowledge. This discussion focuses on classic elements of design most relevant for our purpose.

I often think of myself as a tour guide, directing visual traffic. You’ve got to decide the route you’d like the eye to take when it travels around the quilt and then figure out which fabrics have the moxie to act like a trail of breadcrumbs, leading the way. The following essentials are as useful as a GPS because with these in your sewing basket, you can control alignment, show direction or mark a point of pivot.

Blocks as lines in the Going Up Quilt by Stephanie Sheridan with Needle Stars – Free Pattern available at Benartex.com

Line

Art defines line as a moving dot because the viewer’s eye must move to follow it. Identical motifs are perfect for creating implied lines because the eye tends to connect similar elements automatically.

Line turns out to be an expressive tool because each direction has a personality.

Shapes that run horizontally form a chorus line effect, causing a stripe like pattern that moves the eye left and right. A horizontal design suggests calmness and stability, perhaps because it is reminiscent of the sleeping posture. Patches trained to go up and down create a vertical line, which is interpreted as more visually active. Diagonal lines, like those radiating from the center, create the most dynamic effect because slanting lines strongly imply movement by hinting that change is imminent.

An intrinsic relationship exists between line and patchwork since most patchwork blocks are divided into straight sewing lines. Depending on the choice of color, some contours disappear into camouflaged seams while highlighted others draw attention to the edge created when two shapes meet.

Rhythm

Visual rhythm is based on repetition and refers to the movement of the viewer’s eye. Identical repeating motifs cause the eye to leap from element to repeated element. Not only do rhythmic patterns encourage a dynamic sense of movement, but they also cause an emotional response in the viewer. The palette of fabric can establish a smooth, graceful rhythm or a peppy, punchy march.

Symmetry

Trust symmetry. Realize that, since human beings are symmetrical creatures, symmetry is innately comfortable to our species. We welcome its balanced harmony. Most traditional block designs are symmetrical. There’s an inferred line down the middle of the block and corresponding patches are oriented to the left and right of this line. Identical fabric, whether an unassuming allover or a charismatic fussy cut, presented in pairs of mirror imaged patches guarantees visual coherence. Fitting intricate, symmetrical motifs into a pair of mirror-imaged patches is an elegant solution to many design questions. The agile patterns soften straight lines and create the illusion of graceful continuity. That said, I don’t want you to think symmetry is always the answer. I just want you to add it permanently to your internal list of design possibilities.

Thank you to my talented friends, creative Patternistas all, for generously sharing your valuable time and skills: Karen Benson, Liz Kolansky, Randa Mulford, Claudia Clark Myers, Ricki Selva, Peggy True, Vicki Welsh and Stephanie Sheridan. I hope you know how much I appreciate your efforts.

A Puzzle Quilt is a sampler with a secret. Each block design is identically pieced and used twice. By using totally different fabric combinations, the illusion is created that each block appears unique. The “puzzle” is to pick out which two are the same. It’s the perfect medium for exploring how printed fabric can be used to vary the same patchwork configuration. 

Because this is a Puzzle Quilt, there are 6 pairs of blocks. Each block is made twice totaling 12 blocks. As the maker, your mission is to make each of the set as different from the other as possible. Each block should appear unique and not convey any clue as to which of the other 11 blocks is its twin. 

The fabulous, gorgeous BLOCK B3 was designed and made by Ricki Selva.

[Note to quilt shops: A Puzzle Quilt is a perfect Block of the Month program!] 

Designed by Paula Nadelstern

Finished size: 48” X 62-3/4” 

Fabric: Needle Stars by Paula Nadelstern for Benartex

See more projects in the new Needle Stars Lookbook

To discover more wonder-full free patterns with Paula Nadelstern’s latest collection please see the Needle Stars Lookbook