Thursday, April 3, 2014

CLASS WITH GWEN MARSTON

My friend Dorothy and I were adventuring again!
This time the ferry took us to
a cute quilt shop in Port Gamble, WA
called the Quilted Strait.


A hop skip and jump away from the shop
was the most fabulous place for a sewing class!
(space and wall to wall windows to the water!)


We spent the day with a nice group of 
creative ladies
and...
drum roll please...
Gwen Marston!


She is wonderfully gentle and elegant,
instilling confidence
that everything is
not only possible
but also wonderful!


Above she is demonstrating the basket block.
Below she is working magic while pressing!


She spent the day connecting with every student.

Here she is with Sharon
from the fun blog Indigo Threads



Here's Dorothy with her first fruit basket!


Here's a peek at what was on the design walls.




The next two gals turned their baskets into pails 
and even added a shovel.



One lady pieced this top years ago
and wasn't sure how to finish it
so she brought it to hear Gwen's ideas.


What a great way to show off the fabric.
There was some African, Australian, and even a Kaffe!
I loved the way she played with the snake.





All vintage!


Very pieceful...



                                       Here's my baskets.
                                    All with eggs in them...

(are you ready for this?)
                       "Don't put all your eggs in one basket!"
                                           hahahahaha



Gwen did the usual confidence building talk...
relax, play, try something new,
don't worry, puckers are OK - look, even I have puckers in my quilt!
But my take-away from this class
came when she talked about 
how every one says that 
you must think about value and have contrast.
She went on to say
that a quilt where everything is planned to have high contrast
can also become less than...
 the quilt you walk by at a quilt show - the one that does not not beckon you to look longer.
She said that having some blocks with low contrast
to the point where the block might even be a visual hole
can be a successful element.
Hmmmm....!!!

Here's a link to some photos of her latest museum exhibit.
http://lomeranger.zenfolio.com/gwenmarston

Enjoy!





5 comments:

  1. wheee, you lucky girl! I agree that every block etc in the quilt doesn't have to have high contrast. Fade out blocks are great. you just have to have contrasting elements somewhere...

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  2. How wonderful ! It is so nice to hear that a "famous" quilter is also a gentle and fun teacher--glad you enjoyed the class. I LOVE
    your "Don't Put all your eggs in one basket"! Very apropos for Easter, huh? Hugs, Julierose

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  3. Oh, so good to see Gwen, even in photos. She always reminds us to just have fun, and to listen to our inner voice. Love your egg basket quilt!

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  4. I too love your eggs/chickens baskets! The class with Gwen was so fun, and I'm so glad that I got the chance to meet you!

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  5. Looks like you had a wonderful time! Love your baskets of eggs!

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