This week we are delighted to share this intimate online interview with textile artist and designer, Paula Nadelstern. We are huge fans of Paula and her gorgeous fabrics from Benartex, but I also appreciate Paula on a personal level. I’ve known Paula for such a long time, and I’ve run into her at quilting events around the world over the decades. We share many things in common, including living in New York, but Paula has lived there all her life. She is one of the industry matriarchs who helped to lay a foundation for textile artists who followed.
I’ve visited the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln NE recently, and her Patternista exhibit just closed there. I saw this exhibit last year at Visions in San Diego, and again at IQM. Honestly I never get tired of studying and admiring her amazing kaleidoscope quilts. How lucky for us that she translated her kaleidoscopic visions into quilts, fabrics and patterns. Some of you may be lucky enough to have taken a class from Paula. One year in Winnipeg I sat with her classroom for a morning (the day before I left for a polar bear trip) while her delayed flight was en route. (As I recall, I gave a little lecture about fabric design and production, as we waited for her to show up from the airport.)
In this Part 1 of our long interview, Paula talks about her design process. We currently have over 60 of her products in stock, so you can click through here to see examples of her fabric designs. We have always been committed to stocking as many of Paula’s fabrics, as humanly possible…because we know you guys LOVE her fabrics! As fellow fabriholics, we have a shared love of William Morris fabrics which is part of our discussion.
Monday I fly to France, and I’ll be at the Nantes quilt festival on Wednesday. If you are coming to the show on Thursday, please come to my power point lecture on “Art and Activism” at 3 pm in the main exhibit hall. I have some exciting things happening on this long 2 week trip to France and Amsterdam – stay tuned for my updates in the Weds and Sat e-newsletters. I’ll be taking photos of the quilt exhibits, and other eye candy on the trip, which I will share with you.
sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul
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Travel/Quilt Calendar:
April 18-26 – Pour l’Amour du Fil – Nantes, France (Apr 20 – Art & Activism Lecture)
April 27-30 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 27 – Dairy Barn, Athens OH – Quilt National – Art & Activism Lecture
June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska
