Gwen Marston: Quilt Goddess

Last Thursday we had the pleasure of seeing the exhibit "Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts" at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, Michigan. As I've mentioned before , Gwen is my biggest inspiration. Her 'liberated' approach to quilt design is so freeing and fun, and is how I most love to work. "Liberated Quiltmaking II" is one of my first and favorite quilt books; I re-read it often and those right brain gears just start turning.
I am amazed at how someone can be so creative, varied and prolific! Her quilt styles range from classically traditional patterns with reproduction Civil War fabrics, to the most modern, abstract designs in solids. The quilts in this exhibit were her modern ones, almost exclusively in solids.

So come see some of her quilts with me!

Liberated Log Cabin with String Border (2009, see its photo and description in Liberated Quiltmaking II. But here's a mystery: in the book, it's pictured 'upside down' from the way it was shown in the museum, yet it's hung by a hanging sleeve...so which is the right way up?)
This is my favorite of Gwen's quilts.

Small Study 37 (2010) and Abstraction (2012)
The small quilt is her fabric 'sketch' of her design for the larger quilt.

More small studies

Mexican Hat Dance (2008, Liberated Quiltmaking II)
This one makes me all kinds of happy.

Strippy II (2011)

Medallion in Solids (2007, Liberated Medallion Quilts)

Liberated Log Cabin (2007)
So much quilt love for this one. While this quilt is totally modern, she made her log cabin blocks with the traditional red centers, symbolizing the hearth of the home.

Liberated Log cabin with Applique Border (2008)
I love brights, but I really like the combination of these softer colors.

Framed Red Squares (2007)

High Desert Country III (2008)
These colors remind me of a wonderful road trip to the southwest, especially Utah.

Medallion with Sawtooth Border (2008)
Don't miss that lovely sliver of bright lavender.

Red on Red (2013)
Look at all those juicy reds...mmmm.

Red Square VI (2008)

I hope you enjoyed seeing Gwen Marston's quilts at the museum. These are only some that are on display, through April 27. Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you! I left with so many new quilt ideas, my head kind of hurt, but in a good way. You know, that headache you get when you're on creative overload.

It's is a little off-topic, but in case you haven't seen enough color, this was happening at the museum at the same time: Tibetan monks painting a sand mandala.

I could have stared at it for hours, just trying to take in all the detail and color and texture. Absolutely stunning. Wouldn't it make a gorgeous applique'd wall quilt?! You can read more about their mandala sand painting here.

Have a good week!

Gettin' Zippy Wit It

Every once in a while I go on one of those sewing sprees where I make a whole bunch of one thing...whether I need them or not. This time it was zipper pouches. I could justify making all of these by saying they're so practical to have around, which is true, but who am I kidding? I just love putting pretty fabrics together, and they're such fun to make.

I really like this red with bright turquoise.

Sock monkeys! The top two look like they're swinging from the zipper.

Cheerful flowers. (Real ones will be blooming outside soon...right??)

Bikes, scooters and little red wagons.

This one's a gift for someone who did me a big favor this winter. I hope she likes it!

Each one is made of quilting cotton and linen, and measures 8.5"x 6"x 1.75".

Oh, there's no way I could resist taking this photo. I love to make softies, but this lanky fellow was made by someone else and given to me by my mom, years ago.

Okay, I know I'm not the only one---what sewing projects do you like to make bunches of?

Have a good weekend, and thanks for reading!


Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Out with the Old, In with the New

I actually do have some finished things to show you! Not everything around here is a WIP (work in progress)--though there are certainly plenty of those. I recently made this charming little lunch bag.

I used Ayumi's tutorial. It may look long, but she takes it step-by-step with lots of helpful photos, so it's easy to follow. Usually I'll adapt other people's patterns here and there to make an item just the way I want it, but I made my lunch bag just like hers. (I box my corners differently, though: I cut them off before I sew them. I want to be able to see both side and bottom seams, to make sure they're lined up perfectly.)

I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I haven't used it yet, though. The thing is, I don't pack many lunches...but I do sometimes, and I say that's reason enough to make something cute!
Here's my old lunch bag. I got that one in the early '90s; it's held a lot of lunches. I'm glad you can't see the stains in the photo. Truly a sad sack.

And while I was at it, making cute practical things from one of my favorite Alexander Henry fabrics, why not a couple notepad organizers? I made the larger one as a grocery list/coupon holder (below it is the worn-out specimen it replaces). I dislike grocery shopping, even under the best conditions (are there any best conditions?), so I'll do what I can to make it more pleasant.

The little one lives in my purse, for whenever inspiration might strike...which I'll scribble in a hurry and won't be able to read later. (Remember "Flaming Globes of Sigmund" from Seinfeld, when Jerry scrawls something that later he--and everyone else he asks--can't read correctly? "Salami salami baloney". Yeah, it's like that.)
Each one has a pocket on the left, a slot on the right to hold a notepad, and is held closed with elastic.

It makes me happy to take something that's usually mundane--a lunch bag, a grocery list--and turn it into something pretty and cheerful. Functional things should be beautiful; they're even more special when they're handmade.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for finish it up Friday. (Look at her latest quilt--gorgeous! Another one to add to my quilt bucket list.)

Have a great weekend!

Wild Cherry

You don't need me to tell you about how awful this endless winter of our discontent has been, how the snow drifts threatening to bury the house or snowflakes sticking to the windows made me feel suffocated....nope, not gonna rant; I've already done that, and so have you, I'm sure. But really, this winter did a number on me, and if it snowed one more time, I was going to curl up in a little ball on my closet floor and stay there until my tulips bloomed.

I needed to at least look at something cheerful every day, so quilting to the rescue! I started my first wall quilt, to hang on the wall across from the bed, to be something beautiful I see when I first open my eyes in the morning (instead of the white s--- outside the window [use the four-letter s-word of your choice there])

Here's how this quilt evolved: Once upon a time, I noticed I had a bunch of pretty deep rosy-pink fabrics in my stash. I gathered them together, thinking about what kind of quilt I wanted to make with them, and put them in the project closet...where they sat for about *ahem* three years. I'd go to the closet often to get and work on the quilts I'd given priority, and every once in a while I'd think about the pile...maybe add a fabric, maybe take one away...but still no ideas for a quilt design. At one point, I realized Rosy Pinks needed some lively new friends, so I introduced a couple yellow solids and a couple greens. Well okay, the party was gettin' started.

Late last year I began thinking about making my first wall quilt. Then I re-read Liberated Medallion Quilts by Gwen Marston (she is my absolute quilting idol, for her quilts and for her liberated approach to designing and piecing). I kept thinking, "That Amy Butler 'Love' fabric would make a great center medallion..." So all that combined with some serious winter blues, and I knew it was time to get crackin'.

Here's the finished quilt top, taped up where it will hang, replacing a large Georgia O'Keefe print.
(Georgia, I really like your work, but I've been looking at that big purple petunia since I had my first apartment. It's time to go.)

Hand-quilting it shouldn't take too long. 
Soon, my pretty, soon...

Linked up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

And Awaaay We Go!

Hello, and welcome! My name is Lynn. I sew and quilt and play with fabric in a little yellow house in a town in West Michigan. I'm a self-taught quilter (with the help of books and blogs), finished my first quilt in 2010, and haven't slowed down for a minute since then. I consider my style to be modern and prefer to work improvisationally, usually making things up as I go along, but I have a soft spot for the charming classics, so I often combine styles and techniques. And I love--need-- lots of bright, cheerful color.

I really enjoy reading sewing blogs; they give so much inspiration and a sense of community--I want to be a part of it, too! So this little space is where I want to show you what I'm working on, and get all excited about quilting, sewing and fabric, as well as a record for myself of what I make. I'm not always comfortable putting myself 'out there', and sharing like this to the big wide world is a little outside my comfort zone...but it's good to try new things, so let's see how this goes!

Okay, that's enough of me talking about me. Let me show you the biggest project I'm working on. (I'll save the other six quilts-in-progress for future posts!)  This quilt is called Sea Glass; I finished the top last year, but then I took a break to make a smaller red and white quilt for Christmas (I'll show you that one later in the year), so Sea Glass sat patiently in the closet, waiting its turn. After the new year, I finally basted and started hand quilting. It's a big queen size--hand quilting it is gonna take an eternity--but I'm half done, so it's getting there. 

I quilt like this, with no frame, just holding it draped over me and the chair.

This bright combination of purple, blue and green is one of my favorites.

If I leave it unattended for even two seconds, squatters move in.

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your comments...and come back soon, I'll have lots more to show you.