I bought two of Gwen Marston’s books some time ago…
and have been channeling her in my designs for over a year (you can click on the pictures below to see their captions):
Recently I saw that the (relatively) new iQuilt platform had two video classes taught by Gwen Marston. The class I chose was quite short–a little over 2 hours–and I decided to watch the class over a weekend and make several little quilts using her techniques.
I’d already made a refrigerator quilt in Gwen’s style for an upcoming guild challenge,
Refrigerator quilt inspired by Gwen Marston. Bev Manus came up with the idea for refrigerator quilts.
so I decided to make the new quilts 12″ x 12″ as well. This is a great size for trying new things because there isn’t too much commitment of time or materials.
The first quilt was composed of half square triangle blocks, so I was able to try out the (fairly expensive) Loc Bloc ruler I recently bought to make trimming these blocks to size easier. The ruler worked great with just a little practice, and I got to practice my machine quilting on the finished quilt.
Quilt Front
Gwen’s instruction was to pair the triangles up into squares just as you picked them up, with the caveat that the pairs should have contrast between the fabrics. Then the squares were to be sewn together into rows just as they were picked up. She did allow that it would be OK to lay the rows out and look at them before sewing them together, but advised against spending a lot of time fussing over the exact layout.
Quilt Back
I was pleased with this result. The class doesn’t really cover anything that isn’t in her books, but I was happier watching a little and sewing a little than I am to just sit down and read a book. I made a couple of other quilts, too, and I’ll show them next week.
Zippy Quilts 
I’m torn between experimenting on small (for the reasons you give) and experimenting on usable sizes (child, lap, etc) that can go to charity where warmth is the main criteria. I like the color selection in the triangle quilt. Shows that sometimes random can work.
Yes, it would have been more practical to make donation quilt size, especially since the Ronald McD house for which I quilt wants only 40″ x 40″, not a big deal. That’s what I’ve done with the Sherri Lynn Wood experiments, though I’m sorry to say I haven’t liked them near as well as the Gwen Marston. Maybe I’m more traditional than I think 😃
Question — have you preferred the process or the results with Marston? I’ve borrowed Wood’s book and have followed along on her book-facebook page, watching other people post process, progress, and results. I won’t offer opinion here but wonder about yours. Thanks.
Marston’s process is in many ways traditional, which makes for more controlled results than Wood’s. I’ve had better results with Marston’s methods, but plan to keep trying Wood’s as well.
I love the idea of putting blocks together randomly. Your random choices are fantastic
Thank you! I enjoyed doing this and learned things, too 😊
The yellow and blue refrigerator quilt just makes me happy to look at it! Very “sunny”
Thanks!
These are fun. I was tempted to take Marston’s Madeline Island class beginning in about a week. As it turns out family things would prevent me from going. But I thought — gee, couldn’t I just assign myself a “workshop week” and do a number of small quilts a la Gwen? Here is a link to this class. She has another one the next week.
https://secure.madelineartschool.com/Classes_detail.cfm?Product_CatalogID=388&ProductNumber=QGM060616&ProductCode=48&NewProduct=0
Her classes sound wonderful, but are not in my budget. The iQuilt class was inexpensive and I enjoyed it in my own studio, so it met my needs. Maybe when I retire I can spend my travel budget on classes!
Not truly in my budget either, without an awful lot of consideration! Thanks for the email.