Liberated Quiltmaking II

Whee, oh boy! Gwen's new Liberated Quiltmaking II book is now expected to come out in January 2010, rather than spring (which was the last bit of news I heard). I am already excited about it. Here's a peek at the cover:

I got this info directly from AQS:

At long last! Gwen Marston has updated her signature Liberated Quiltmaking!

The fascination with Gwen’s Liberated Quiltmaking has generated a demand for more, more, more! First introduced in 1996, her distinctive processes for creating original quilts are expanded in this new volume.

Gwen presents nine Liberated Quiltmaking processes including Liberated Square Within-a-Square, Liberated Medallion, and Re-cut Blocks and Sashing. Each process is clearly illustrated with step-by-step instructions, pieced samples, and loads of example quilts. Multiple techniques and variations are also given.

Liberated Quiltmaking II provides a way of working without using templates or set patterns. Truly original quilts result from these processes that engage the quilter’s intuition and emotion as well as technical skills. Quilters with some experience will enjoy putting pizzazz into their designs.

Gwen Marston has been a professional quiltmaker, author, and teacher for more than three decades. Her work has been shown in group exhibits throughout the United States and abroad and in 21 solo exhibits. Her articles have appeared in numerous magazines over the years. This is her twenty-fourth book. Gwen lives and offers quilting retreats in her home on Beaver Island, Michigan.

Ordering information: www.americanquilter.com or 1-800-626-5420

Me again and can I just say Woohoo!

I am so bummed I'm not at Gwen's quilt retreat right now with Bonnie and Lucy and all the other folks who are having such a good time. Of course I'd be pretty worthless, unable to sew a stitch, but at least I could talk.

No, I haven't decorated for Halloween. I have Halloween Houses up on the wall, since Janet was using it for inspiration for sewing liberated houses while she was here. And a fun pumpkin that Marge F. sent me (thank you!) is up as well. Things are such a mess right now and other projects have higher priority (need more shelving). And it doesn't help I need so many rest breaks.

I am getting lots of tv watched. I saw two episodes of Flash Forward and can I say bleah? How such an interesting concept can go so horribly wrong so quickly I don't know. I was sooo tired of hearing Benford blah blah blahing on about his wife having an affair she hasn't even had. And his partner, oh poor me, I'm going to die. Maybe you were asleep, buddy, or under anesthesia. I fast forwarded through parts of the show. Not a good sign. It has one more chance.

Stargate: Universe? Horrible horrible horrible. Dark, dreary, dull. I watch Stargate: SG-1 for the fun and humor and adventure. We turned the pilot off after 45 minutes.

Gwen Marston's Books

I wanted to see what my bed quilt was going to look like so I threw it on the bed even though I still haven't gotten the binding on it ("it" the quilt, not "it" the bed). I am really happy with it. Pokey and Lily had fun running around and even though I made this quilt to use, knowing cats were going to sleep on it etc, I worried those little claws would snag the fabric or quilting thread. eek.





No, I still haven't posted a full picture of the bed quilt. You can see several pics here amidst the alphabet tutorial over on Quiltville. The quilt on the wall is Stars.



I received an email today asking about Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking, which as you know is my favorite quilting book ever. Ever. Since I get similar emails every once in awhile, I figured I would answer here. Last year it looked like Liberated Quiltmaking was going to be republished by a small company, but it didn't happen. Unfortunately. So the only way to get the book right now is to pay an outrageous price for a used copy. I love the book, but $100???


Liberated Quiltmaking teaches you how to improvisationally piece great looking cotton crazies (aka crumb or utility quilts), houses, stars and free-piece anything you set your mind to. Gwen shows you how to reinterpret classic patterns such as Shoo-Fly, Log Cabin, Nine Patch. But you don't just learn how to make these blocks because she teaches the process, the technique that you can then adapt to making anything. It was this new way of thinking that led me to try making letters and you can see where that has led.



The book completely changed how I approach quilting, making it so much more enjoyable and allowing me to find my own way of working. No more Quilt Police. The other great thing about the book is that Gwen shows how this used to be an accepted way of quilting and can easily be seen in many antique quilts.



Collaborative Quilting, which Gwen wrote with Freddy Marston, is another fun book and in many ways a sequel to Liberated Quiltmaking. There are differences though. The colors are much brighter and in your face. LQ has a more traditional look and teaches in baby steps. In CQ you have to work harder at understanding how it goes together.



Gwen's Liberated String Quilts is a marvelous book as well but truly focuses on string quilts. There is a bit more than that (fractured fabric) but not much. I love the book, but it's stringy, not improvisational.



String Quilts is also written in a completely different style than LQ. String Quilts is patterny. In Liberated Quiltmaking, Gwen just talks her way through making her quilts. She explains how she did it, but doesn't provide any kind of pattern or yardage requirements. She tells you how to get started on your own and explore. That just really speaks to me.

Another fan of Gwen Marston's style is Dianne of Persnickity. She's shown a couple of her liberated quilts recently in her blog. She's also spoken movingly about being a quilter with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) as have Siobhan of Scraps and Threadtales and Karen Dianne Lee at Living Life at LeeHaven. I urge you to check their blogs out, particularly their entries for MS Awareness Week (March 10-17th).



Mary in MN asked if I was charging for teaching the Summer Class. The answer is no. For my first ever online class I asked for donations to the MS Society and was thrilled that we contributed almost a thousand dollars. But I admit that having people pay made me worry the whole time if the students were getting enough for their money. Were there enough quilts finished? Did I provide enough encouragement or arm twisting?



Anyway, not paying works well for me. I do this for love and interaction with other like-minded quilters. The Summer Class is off to a great start. Brenda and Juliann have already made some great progress. Check out the blog here.



A wonderful friend sent me some more Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles episodes. I had a mini marathon last night and watched three of them. I LOVE that show. I'm not saying it's perfect or anything else, but I love it. Fox, you'd better renew this show.



But holy cow, can I just say the commercials suck? The show is so choppy shown this way. Five minutes of the program, three minutes of advertising alternated over and over. yeesh. The reason so many people watch pay cable tv shows isn't because those shows can use swearing and nudity it's because the flow of the show is so superior.



If only Showtime would return to making science fiction programming, or even better if HBO would start. Where's our pay cable SF/Fantasy channel that would make better programming decisions than Sci-Fi.



Yesterday I took a photo safari down to the Grand Palais. I took lots of photos but I haven't actually downloaded them yet. I know I got a fingerprint on the lens and I'm not sure how well I cleaned it off. I'm afraid to look.



That's it from here. Ya'all take care.

Liberated Compared to Collaborative

I learned to make houses from Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking. I kept playing with her techniques, playing without patterns and loved every moment of it. I think Home Sweet Home was the fourth quilt I made with the houses. Could be wrong though - I've certainly made several of them. Sweet Pokey helps to model the quilt:

I emailed AQS back in March to ask if there was any possibility of them reprinting LQ. (As I've said monotonously, it's my favorite book and I'm crazed that it's not in print.) I was already thinking about some kind of mail campaign asking for it. But would it do any good? A great fellow-Gwen fan at AQS said I wasn't the first person to inquire about this, so she'd look into it. Groovy.

My next step was to write to Gwen to make sure that she didn't already have plans in place to reprint the book. Nope, she didn't. So completely of my own accord (no instigation from Gwen) I wrote a blog post in which I suggested that everyone contact AQS and beg for the book. But right before hitting the publish button I had second thoughts. What if only 10 people write to them, that would be rather embarassing. What if so many people do that AQS got irate and refused to have anything to do with the book - that would be counterproductive as well.

So I emailed AQS to show them my potential blog post. What did they think? Would that help? The very next day I got the email from Andi that I excerpted in yesterday's post. And here we are.

Your response so far has been incredible. In 24 hours we've already got 76 copies "ordered." I think that's excellent for such a short time period and the circumstances.

One quilter asked:

"I have Collaborative Quilting that Gwen wrote with Freddy Moran. One chapter deals with liberated parts...baskets, churn dash, houses, log cabins, shoe fly, stars, trees, spiky borders, and string borders and blocks. Would Liberated Quilting just be an expansion of those topics or would it cover more blocks in more detail?"

I'll do my best to answer this, but hopefully some of ya'all can help answer this too.

CQ shows you how to make the blocks, LQ tells you. It's not that CQ has patterns but it shows you "put the blocks together like this." In Liberated Quiltmaking, Gwen explains every step of the process. What she was thinking when she came up with the idea for making a particular block, how she made the blocks and arranged them. By sharing the steps, she helps you to understand WHY the blocks went together the way they did so that you can take these ideas and apply them to other blocks.

Liberated Quiltmaking is more restrained in color than CQ, which I think makes it easier for traditional quilters to dip their toes in. CQ is definitely more in your face, high speed and zingy. LQ is sitting around the quilt frame while a beloved friend talks to you and encourages you to play. It's written in a completely different style.

I don't have LQ here with me since I loaned it to my friend Will. (See, I need another copy!) What does LQ have that CQ doesn't? Three different methods for making those fabulous stars, free-piecing pictures, 9-patches, recutting blocks, recutting sashing, those wonderful floating squares.... It also has more details on how to make the houses.

CQ is dessert, LQ is the whole meal. Does that make sense? Personally, I recommend getting both books.

When I read this next email I totally had to share it with you. Amy K gave me her permission:

"Tonya--You know what? I was on vacation with my family last week and JUST HAPPENED to find a fantastic sewing/quilting shop nearby--hahahaha! They had a giant collection of quilting books, and guess what was on the shelf, brand new, for the cover price of $24.95? *Liberated Quiltmaking*, of course. My heart pounded. I furtively looked both ways. I slipped it under my butt and sat on it while I continued to look at the books so nobody else would see it. Finally I took it to the cash register feeling like a thief in the night, paid the absurdly low price, and tap-danced my way to my car.

I have already made my very first tiny but "liberated" quilt top. I felt like an absolute idiot at first, thinking: This is the stupidest and most hideous creation in the world. I even laughed at it about ten minutes into the process. But you, and GM, are right--it took on an amazing life of its own, decisions became very easy as it grew, and, well, I'm pretty happy with this first attempt.

Anyway, enough gushing! I WOULD buy a copy if I didn't already have one. This is a life-changing book, and it seems insane that it's out of print."

Tonya again - I just can't convince Blogger to stop the indentation. Have we convinced you? Go to yesterday's post to "order" a copy. It will be so much easier to keep track if everyone sticks to that one post.

Liberated Quiltmaking on CD?

In the two and a half weeks since I posed the question "would you buy Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking for approximately $36" ya'all spoke up and said you'd buy 235 copies. I think that's pretty swell given the short amount of time and no involvement by the author. I passed the information along to AQS. The editor thanked me and asked how many of you would want to buy Liberated Quiltmaking on CD.

Hmm, I can't get excited about that at all. I do enough reading on the internet as it is. And LQ isn't a book that you'd just bring up to get a pattern, because there aren't any. It's a book to be read and savored. But I relay the question nontheless

Would you buy Liberated Quiltmaking on CD?

Liberated Quiltmaking Reprint

I have been emailing American Quilters' Society about a reprint of Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking, which as far as I'm concerned is the best quilting book ever.

Today I got an email from Andi Reynolds, the Executive Book Editor. She says:

"Here’s what would help: AQS would like to know how many people would commit to pre-ordering an exact reprint priced at $36 or so. If you would capture this information among Gwen’s fans, say in the next couple of weeks or however long it takes you to ask around, and pass it along to me, we’ll take a look at the idea."

Who will buy a reprint of Liberated Quiltmaking? Leave a comment on my blog or send me an email ( tartbr47 at hotmail.com ).

Comment OR email. Don't do both - that would confuse me. If you'd buy copies for friends, say that, but please don't exagerate. Deadline is the end of June.

Okay you guys, we are Gwen's fans. Time to spring into action. Please pass the word along to everyone else you know who loves Gwen's work. Put a note in your blog if you have one, talk to your friends, and send emails to fellow Gwen fans. If you participate in a group email list or chatroom and it would be appropriate, please post something.

Ready, set, go!

Gwen's New Liberated Book

I've started yet another quilt. I needed to have something portable to sew at a friend's, but of course I got all interested and I'm still working on it even though I have other projects that need to be finished.

By the way, this is an intense look of concentration on my face - I like to think I don't really look like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel.

I got so much done when I was over at Jackie's. Hmm, why is it so much harder to get things done at home? A belly that need to be loved on... By the way, that's Pokey's portrait up on the wall in the kitchen - you can see it above my shoulder.

Pokey is doing fine by the way. Happy little girl.

As compared to Brenda's cat Kitty on The Closer. Kitty also had kidney problems and it was a very familiar site when Brenda pulled out the bag of fluids. Of course Pokey isn't nearly as well behaved as Kitty. AND isn't that sick yet, thankfully. I tell you, I was bawling at the end of the most recent episode.

I've got some fun news to share with you. Last week I mailed off my Alphabet Sampler quilt for photography - it's going to appear in Gwen Marston's new Liberated Quiltmaking book. Woohoo, I'm so excited.

I called Gwen to tell her I'd shipped the quilt. She was busy doing yard work out in the "heat wave" - ooh, 80 degrees! I sure wish it didn't get hotter than that here, but I wouldn't want her cold winters. She's looking forward to her trip next month to Sisters, Oregon. I'm so envious of all of you who are getting to go.

I asked Gwen what is going to appear in the new book. There will be a review of some of the processes in Liberated Quiltmaking as well as some improved instructions - Gwen has learned a lot since the first book was published. There will be Liberated Stars, Log Cabins, Triangles (such as Sawtooth and Wild Geese), Square Within a Square, Medallions, Samplers, and Baskets. She's also including Mexican Hat Dance - that's the block that appears on in the quilt on the cover of Ideas and Inspirations. There's another quilt made from that same block on the wall of her house in a photo in Collaborative Quilting.

There's also a student gallery of 15 quilters who took Liberated Quilting in their own direction. Woohoo, that's me in there!

I need to wrap this post up. I have one last full day with my sweetie before he has to get back on the plane tomorrow. sigh. Ya'all take care.

Book Recommendations and a Few Good Links

I've been thinking about books lately. hmm, wonder why... Figured this was a good opportunity to recommend some of my absolute favorite books.

Of course, Pokey approves of them all too.

Some of these books will be familiar to my faithful readers. Wade through those and you'll get to some you might not have seen before. Maybe.

First and foremost, is the one that changed it all. Gwen Marston's original Liberated Quiltmakingbook. I can't help myself - I have a strong emotional connection to this book. I love Gwen's style and how she describes the techniques and lets you make the quilt yourself. Right now this out-of-print book is available for $50 and it's worth the price.

Gwen's more recent book, Liberated Quiltmaking II is also excellent (and hey, I have a quilt in there) with a bit of overlap with the first one, but still a lot of new stuff to see.

For the hand quilters out there, oh boy, Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham's fantastic but also sadly out of print classic Quilting With Style: Principles for Great Pattern Design is available used for hardly any money at all. A serious bargain. I love the book intensely and I've only ever done the freehand fans, so that tells you there is a lot of quilting eye candy in there. This book shows you how to draft quilting designs so you don't have to buy templates.

Speaking of hand quilting, Gwen is now doing a series of hand quilting lessons on her homepage.  Check it out here. And while you are there you can buy some books directly from Gwen herself, including Ideas and Inspirations and her collaborative books with Freddy Moran.

Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do is another old standby favorite that you can READ since it's not a pattern book. Definitely the kinds of books I like.

Alright, you'd almost have to be living under a rock to not know about the Gee's Bend quilters, the fabulous improvisational quilters of Alabama. If you haven't gotten it already, run and grab The Quilts of Gee's Bend: Masterpieces from a Lost Place. Gorgeous coffee-table book with moving stories of quilters taking hardship and turning it into beauty.

You say you've already got that book? Well then how about Just How I Picture It in My Mind: Contemporary African American Quilts from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts or Accidentally on Purpose: The Aesthetic Management of Irregularities in African Textiles and African-American Quilts. Both are high-quality books of wonderful improvisational quilts.

I own a ton of books on Amish quilts. Far too many books only have the pretty and perfect quilts but the Amish had some rebel quilters. Try these books: Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brownwhich led to an awesome class we did called Liberated Amish. Eve Granick's The Amish Quilthas some great liberated quilts in it too.

I also love Illinois Amish Quilts: Sharing Threads of Tradition which you can buy directly from the author, Janice Tauer Wass. I admit I'm biased because I got to see some of these beauties in person, but the book is wonderful.

Wild by Design: Two Hundred Years of Innovation and Artistry in American Quilts features quilts from the International Quilt Study Center. It's an unusual book because it shows a quilt, explains how it's made but mostly it's a conversation by the contributors of what made each quilt "wild" for its time and what they like about each quilt. Features some great antique quilts.

Another historical book I treasure is Album Quilts of Ohio's Miami Valleyby Sue C. Cummings. This is a low-priced book for what you get - all these beautiful pics of loosy-goosy liberated, just put these puppies together quilts. I wrote a post about this book here.

Quilts by Paul D. Pilgrim: Blending the Old & the Newis another out-of-print beauty but at the moment you can get it for a decent price. I've written a glowing blog post about this book before, it's one I really love. It shows how Paul gathered together old blocks to put them together, using partial blocks and innovation. Marvelous.

Do you ever buy a book for just one fabulous quilt? Then have I got the book for you. Mississippi Quiltsby Mary Elizabeth Johnson. Honestly it has some other great quilts in here too, but this red, white and blue star quilt blows me away:

So many of the state history books ignored string quilts, but not this one, which is why I love it. I was about to say that Mississippi Quilts is my favorite state book, but oooh I also love New York Beauties: Quilts from the Empire State which has great antique quilts with WORDS. Great used prices at the moment, so go grab it.

On to something completely different. Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang. Lynne of Patchery Menagerie recommended this book and boy was she right. Okay, yes, it's a childrens book, but that doesn't matter. Very effective and it's recently been reissued and the price is great.

Another book on design that I love is Design!: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists & Craftspeople by Steven Aimone. For a ridiculously low price you get a huge bunch of photos of interesting objects etc (including quilts) and well-written instruction.

Design includes a couple of embroideries by one of my favorite artists, Renie Breskin Adams whose work is so full of humor and joy. Ooh, her website has a collection of her work, which you can click on and explore BIG.

Hmm and now I have to direct you over to another fun embroiderer, Caroline Dahl. She's been doing some awesome Day of the Dead work, and I think my favorite is Laundry Day of the Dead.

Speaking of humor and joy AND knowing you just need a project to include UnRuly Letters, try Mary Lou Weidman's Out of the Box: Unleash Your Creativity Through Quilts (That Patchwork Place). Lots of bright inspiration and wheee color.

Feel like having some fun that has absolutely nothing to do with quilts? then try the book Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things. These pics make me laugh. The blog of the same name is loads of fun too. Did I ever show you my favorite? Zombie potatoes.

Okay, I can't think of anymore.  What books would you recommend for your favorite liberated, UnRuly quilters?

Think in Plaid

I'm really happy how my One Patch with Strings is coming along. I've got all my blocks made up now, which is pretty easy since so many of them were one patches. There are a few more blocks than this and I think I'm going to just keep piecing until I run out of the fabric.

I added some letters: THinK. They're hard to read - I didn't intend that, I just started piecing without paying attention. So some letters are dark, some are light. That's okay, I know what it says. I didn't like my first i so it got thrown in with the rest of the blocks.

I stopped piecing yesterday because Pokey commandeered my box of strips. She scampered as soon as I put the ironing board up - all my cats hate that noise with a passion.

She moved to a patch of sunlight on my cutting table and just zonked out. She didn't flinch as I cut blocks and made noise right beside her.

This morning I had Breakfast in America. I just love saying that. I had blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup - mmmmm - while visiting with fellow American expats, one of whom is a quilter.

I got a wonderful email from Moe who attended a lecture by Gwen Marston last night. Lucky girl. Plus she's taking two classes - woohoo. Lucky, lucky girl. I'm hoping Moe will post pics in her blog for us.

Indigo Threads Sharon found a great interview with Gwen Marston done in 2007 for Save Our Stories. Excellent reading.

Speaking of Gwen Marston, we are now up to 200 copies of Liberated Quiltmaking requested through comments and email. That's in just one week. Thank you all so very much for participating and spreading the word. Mary Jo had a great suggestion which was for folks to go in to their local quilt shops and ask them to contact AQS and let them know that the store would order copies.

If you haven't already done so and want to put your name down on the list of quilters asking for a reprint of Liberated Quiltmaking, you can do that in my post here. I'm figuring that even if AQS won't reprint the book, maybe Gwen will do so. Fingers crossed!

Liberated Quiltmaking

Woohoo, great news. Looks like a paperback edition of Gwen Marston's classic Liberated Quiltmaking is once again available. American Amazon is carrying it, says it will ship 4-6 weeks after it's been ordered.

I highly recommend this book, as anyone who's been reading my blog for long knows. Here are a bunch of posts that refer to it. Hopefully I haven't praised it so highly that when you finally get it you go, this is all there is? (There have been a few movies that I've seen after reading glowing reviews and they just can't live up to the hype.) Check it out at the library first (Interlibrary Loan works wonders) if you don't want to splurge, but do check it out.

Liberated

I was so excited to see an advertisement for Gwen Marston's new book that I scanned a pic to post on the blog. That's my stickie on it with Woohoo!!! - that wasn't part of the ad. I was looking at the image on my computer when Pokey came by for a peek, so you get an unexpected photo of two of my favorite things in the world. Kitty Pokey and Gwen's book.

Not that Pokey is a thing: she's a tiny cat person.

I spoke with Gwen last week. I'm sure I've mentioned before that she's my hero. I finally asked Gwen if I could use the word Liberated to describe what I do. Now obviously it's liberated, but could I capitalize and make it official. No more having to always say "free-piecing" to describe things. Guess what?

Gwen said yes! Woohoo again. It's Liberated Letters now. She's happy to have others use that term to describe this style. I didn't want to step on her toes or infringe on her copyright or make her unhappy in any way. No such problem. She is a doll. Am I gushing too much? Sorry. Last bit of Gwen news and then I'll change topic.

Gwen's website has been updated and we can now pre-order autographed copies of Liberated Quiltmaking II from her. It's a big deal to do it that way and support her directly. You can do so here. The retreat dates, information and sign-up form are already posted for 2010 too. The theme is Liberated Quilting. I sooo want to go.

I am finally totally done with the whole sluggish, can barely move, when will this anesthesia be out of my body thing. I'm excited, happy, energetic. Of course my bad knee has blown up, but that was bound to happen. At least it's not too bad (and doing much better) - I refuse to go under another general anesthetic this year.

My husband has gotten so incredibly fit, not to mention tanned, it's disgusting. He looks 20 years younger than me - gack. He bought a set of scales that tell not only a person's weight but their percentage of body fat and body mass index. Stuff I did not need to see. I've managed to keep off the weight that I lost during/immediately after surgery but haven't done as well at losing more. Note to self: must stop weighing myself in the morning and then again in the afternoon when I've gained six pounds. Food and water are that heavy?

We are eating healthier and that's definitely good. Sweetie has been doing most of the grocery shopping which keeps me from all that impulse naughtiness I usually fall prey to. By the way, have you tried 100% whole wheat Angel Hair Pasta. Just that kind. It's wonderful, doesn't taste whole wheaty at all and I've tried three different brands. Love brown basmati rice too, whereas regular brown rice makes me want to cry rather than eat. Course you do have to love basmati rice in the first place.

In continuing health news, Pokey is doing great. She was the most bouncy happy lively bundle of fur this last week. She's not too happy with me today because I took her to the vet's for her saline. I'm now only taking her every six days instead of three times a week. I think she's so much happier this way even if she does come home with a hunchback and her little cat suit all stretched out. She's definitely got baggy sleeves today.

I can't believe I forgot to tell you that I finished the hand quilting on the Margarita Quilt. Still no binding yet, unsurprisingly. The only hand quilting project I have now is Slither, Eek, Boo. Don't take it the wrong way (it's a wonderful quilt) but I hate working on it. Too massive and heavy. Maybe when I'm down to zero hot flashes and the weather finally gets cold(er) it will be more enticing.

Didn't do anything for Halloween this year, not even the decorating. It felt pointless to buy candy to give to kids when there's only about three of them living in the area. This so IS Florida. Instead sweetie and I went out for Mexican food. I figured the calories from the chips and Margarita, and the cheese, and guacamole and okay, all of it, would maybe somehow add up to the bag of trick-or-treat candy that I didn't buy and then eat all by myself.

I am crazy crazy busy with a project and will be a baaaad blogger for awhile. I won't be disappearing, but will post infrequently, just like I have for the last couple of months.

I'm outta here. Ya'all take care.

Amish Abstractions Giveaway

Take a look at this gorgeous quilt (Crazy Quilt circa 1930 from Arthur, Illinois. 78" x 63") It may not be what you normally associate with Amish quilts, but it's definitely one of my favorites. This quilter just used what she had. There are lots of dark deep colors, and then tiny slivers of white and a few larger chunks of gold that really bring it to life.

I can imagine doing a quilt like this and adding a word into one of those blocks.

And look at this quilt (Nine Patch circa 1920, Kalona, Iowa. 62" x 74"). Isn't it luminous? I used to resist grayed out colors, but now I can appreciate how they make the stronger colors shine.

These quilts come from the book Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and Stephen Brown. I love it, love it, love it.

I have eight other books and catalogs specifically about Amish quilts, and yet this book has some stunners that I don't have photos of in any other book. To get an idea of what kinds of quilts the Browns collect, you can peek at the photos here just know that not all of their quilts are in the book.

There are 74 full page photos of quilts as well as many detail shots in the book. I've got the calendar as well (which, uh oh, shows a vet appointment for Lily today - she's going to be quite irate).

Kathie also loves the book and wrote about it here. I love that star quilt too.

The book publisher, Pomegranate, has kindly offered up a giveaway copy of the book Amish Abstractions. But since it's my giveaway, I get to make the rules, mwa ha ha ha.

To enter to win, leave me a comment in this post. Make sure that you give me enough information so that I can contact you if you win. Someone named "Anonymous" is not going to be entered. (Or they will, and then I'll just keep it for myself. again a fiendish "mwa ha ha")

For a second chance to win, promise that you'll make a quilt using one of the quilts in the book as your inspiration.

For a third chance to win, promise that you'll make the blocks in the liberated style ala Gwen Marston.

For yet another chance to win, promise to include Liberated Letters ala me (need to know how? Links in the sidebar) in that quilt top.

The quilt top must be completed by June and you must send me a photo of the quilt (or a link). Obviously we're on the honor system here, I'm not going to come to your house to get the book back.

Okay, so I will enter your name up to four times. In your comment, include contact info and whichever/all of the following words (if you're game): book, quilt, liberated, words.

I think that sounds fun anyway. I will close the drawing on Jan 25th and pick a name then.

Speaking of giveaways and Gwen Marston, Bumble Beans is very kindly offering up her second copy of Liberated Quiltmaking II. Click over here and leave a comment by 8:15am est on the 22nd.

Thank you all for the kind comments about my cute kitties. They've been enjoying Amish Abstractions too:

desert island quilt books

In my case it's not so much a matter of desert island, as desert country...

What are my five most important quilt books? I used one criteria to start with - I had to actually have the book here with me. If I put it in storage, it couldn't have been that desperately needed, right? (Unfortunately I chose my heaviest books to leave behind, cuz we have weight restrictions on shipping our belongings, and those are the ones with the most photos.)

Now it gets hard because I've narrowed the field down to six and I'm having problems letting go of one more. Ack. Okay, here it is in alphabetical order:

The Amish Quilt by Eve Granick
I have six books on just Amish quilts so it was extremely hard to narrow the field down to just one. I finally went with this one, which is pretty funny considering that the first time I bought it (1991?) I wasn't that interested in it and sold it to a friend. I already had pictures of Amish quilts. I had to buy it again when I realized it had pics of Amish cotton crazies and utility quilts that I didn't have in my other books. Those are the big draw now for me.

Liberated Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston
Not a shock that it's here, is it. Maybe it will surprise you to know I actually considered leaving it off the list because I've already read it cover to cover probably 20 times and just looked at certain sections countless more. This is the one that set me free.

Liberated String Quilts by Gwen Marston
I'm not nearly as passionate about this one as I am about the previous one. I hate the exact yardage amounts and precise instruction to make it the same way Gwen did. The Quiltmaking book has more of Gwen's spirit in it. BUT it has great photos of string quilts and so it's still inspirational.

Scrap Quilts by Roberta Horton
I like this one for its improvisational style and focus on folk art. I love that it encourages people to design their own applique - no templates. The antique quilts are excellent as well - the Sunburst quilt on page 49 is my fave.

Signs and Symbols by Maude Southwell Wahlman
Admittedly, I'm not interested in the text for this one - I just love all the pictures of the rural African-American quilts. If I had my Gee's Bend book it might very well take its place.

Close runner-up:

Wild by Design by Janet Catherine Berlo and Patricia Cox Crews
Has lots of antique quilts that were considered wild or innovative for their time. Maybe I shouldn't say lots - I think there's only 48 color photos and not all of those are quilts that I like. Still, this is probably the book I'd take if I couldn't have any of the others. There's a little bit of this and a little bit of that, whereas the others are more specialized.

Me, Gwen Marston, and Bonnie

Woohoo!!! On Tuesday I met my hero, Gwen Marston. She is wonderful, sweet and so generous with her time. 

To fill in a bit, on Monday I drove four hours to Sarasota and picked up Bonnie at the airport. We visited a quilt shop, had Mexican food for dinner and basically talked and talked and talked. We spent the next day with Gwen, our marvelous Liberated Quilting leader and all around inspiration. 

Bonnie and I brought quilts to show Gwen, quilts with free-pieced letters and strings and crumbs. We were also lucky enough to see some of Gwen's quilts, which are as marvelous as I imagined. She allowed us to take some photos so that we could share them with you. 

Gwen made the center and first couple of rounds of this medallion quilt using scraps of fabric her students left on the floor during Working With Solids class. This quilt is going to be featured in the new Liberated Quilting book she's working on, so this is a sneak preview.

When Gwen is working on the hand quilting, she'll spend 1o hours a day (not including breaks) sitting at the frame working. No wonder she gets so much done.

I wanted you to be able to see the amazing details. These photos should enlarge when you click on them. I think.

Whee, both Bonnie and I got our Liberated Quiltmaking books signed.

A photo of me, Gwen, and Bonnie. You don't want to look at this one closer - I look too goofy. I'm definitely more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.

It was great to get the chance to ask Gwen questions about quilts and quilting, but also about publication. I've learned something important - just how little a quilter earns from their books unless they self-publish. A quilter will earn something like a dollar for every book sold. If they're lucky. It could be less, especially if it's a duo writing the book.

So if you have favorite quilters and want (and are able) to do more to support them, buy from them directly. They make quite a bit more money on the books they sell themselves on their websites or in their classes or lectures. It really makes a big difference. Plus you can get the book autographed.

Some of the quilts Gwen showed us were from Ideas and Inspirations, which Gwen self-published along with photographer Gregory Case. I got to see my favorite quilt Strippy which really is gorgeous. You can get the book directly from Gwen's website although it's also now available online through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and doubtless other spots as well.

I have more photos and stories to share with you, but they'll have to wait for another post. I had a great trip, but it's good to be home with the kitties.

The Secret Project

I can finally tell you all about the secret project I've been busy working on. Drum roll please...

I'm officially working on my liberated letters book. I actually have a publisher and signed contracts - woohoo!!! I've been so crazy working on it because the chief editor called after I got home from my surgery (when I was still somewhat out of it) and I have to turn in the manuscript on January 7th. Eeek. I can't give you details about it now, but will as we get closer to the publication date *fingers crossed* in 2010.

So I've been neglecting you, dear readers, but for a very good reason. I will continue to neglect you until some time in January.

Before I sign off, big thanks to Gwen Marston for her support and mentorship, not to mention the inspiration for all of my liberated work. She's a true sweetheart. Buy her book - support liberated quiltmaking.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans out there. Ya'all take care.

Halloween Houses

I don't know if the rest of you have had the experience of making a quilt that forever changes how you approach making quilts. I have. Making liberated houses a la Gwen Marston really changed everything. I was never much of a template fan, but after "Liberated Quiltmaking" I've never used them again.

The first houses quilt I made was for Christmas in 1996, and I haven't posted that one yet. Sometime after that I made the blue and white liberated houses quilt that I posted in my very first blog entry.

In September 2000, I pieced this quilt Halloween Houses and it loosened me up that much more. I mainly pieced houses but you'll see a witch there in the top line. I wasn't paying enough attn when I sewed on her head, so it's a bit out of whack, but I refused to redo it. She's a witch, not a beauty queen.

But the biggest step forward for me was realizing that I could piece letters. Letters without templates or a systematic approach with squares and rectangles... Just letters. The kind that I showed you all how to make back in August. This was the beginning. I've been on a quilt lettering kick ever since.

I love the quilting on this quilt, if I may say so myself. This detail shot is all perle cotton, but I also used embroidery floss in other areas. All the quilting motifs are out of my little head, I didn't use any templates. Most of the fun was deciding what went where. In this shot you have the old tree and bats flying in the air, a visiting alien, half of a spider web and a big fat spider.

Christmas Houses 1997

I have shown you this quilt before, but never with the details. Christmas Houses was my first ever liberated project, courtesy of the remarkable "Liberated Quiltmaking" by Gwen Marston. It's such a weird mix of icky ugly Christmas fabrics from the 1980s as well as gorgeous purples and greens that I still love. I've written more about making this quilt way back in this post.

I was so proud of my quilting when I finished this. Now I would do a whole lot more - but I think I've gone overboard with the hand quilting in recent years.

Look at my little misshappen snowman. I could make this so much better now, but he has his charm. I am thrilled that I included the date in my quilting - I know exactly what year I made it just by looking at the front of the quilt.

Speaking of Gwen, her Liberated String Quilts is now out of print. I don't understand that at all, it's such a beautiful book. Great pics of antique string quilts. You can still buy a copy directly from Gwen, which you should consider doing before the price of the used copies shoots way up.

I haven't done any sewing lately, just working on gift bags. I figure I've got to do it while the mood is upon me, otherwise they'll never get finished. Yesterday I watched the first four episodes of the tv series Jericho, about life in a smalltown after a big nuclear attack on the U.S. I keep thinking these people aren't nearly freaked out enough - the world as they know it is gone. But I guess they haven't had enough time to think it through yet. I'm already yelling at them to start rationing batteries, fuel and food. I'm sure they'll get there soon.

On a much happier note, I've put my Christmas music into play, so now I'm grooving to Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Armstrong, Steve Tyrell, the Ventures and the immortal Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby. And of course Elvis, how could I have forgotten to mention him.

I have a bunch of links for you. First off, I received an email from Kris asking me to tell you about a non-profit website called Twirls for Girls, which was set up so that people could download free doll skirt and top patterns to be made and donated to the Marine Toys for Tots foundation this Christmas. When I think of Toys for Tots I always imagined that they just want purchased toys, it's good to know that they value hand-crafted items. And if there's no Toys for Tots in your part of the world, I'm sure there is a child or charity that would love the gift of doll clothes as well.

The amazing Bonnie has been incredibly busy (I know, when isn't she). First off, she has kindly added my free-piecing Basics tutorial to Quiltville so you can now print it off much easier over there rather than from my blog. She's also come up with a fun Crumb Tutorial that hopefully will give ya'all a better idea of how those little blocks are made up. She included pics from our Crumby Retreat that made me I wish I could be there in Florida sewing with her now. Last but not least, she has added directions for making String Stars.

Cascade Lily free-pieced a teapot and it looks excellent. She drew it out first to get an idea of how it would go together and then just pieced it. Looks marvelous. She's been quilting freehand fans too, so go check out the other fun quilts on her blog.

Kimberly M at Loco Quilter is a hoot. She made wonderful free-pieced Halloween blocks and now she's working on Christmas. you can check out her blog to see her charming Santa. She's also a member of the Winter Class where there is some great work being posted.

Deputy's Wife just tried the free-pieced letters. She was very brave, just dove right in and didn't even practise with the simple ones first. Her work in progress can be seen on her 26 Nov post. She found making the letters easy and fun. Always wonderful to get feedback like that.

Cutting Strips

I showed you a blue and turquoise quilt recently that I made for my husband. Well it strikes me that I perhaps have gone a bit overboard buying those two colors. Sigh. Admittedly there is a wee bit of purple and green mixed in here, but I do have a lot.

And there’s more….

Yup, definitely went overboard. I can still here that voice in my head, I have to buy fabric for that blue quilt I want to make someday. Well, when I finally get to it, I’ll have lots of choices.

Right now I’m cutting 2”ish strips and strings to make a bed quilt someday. I know I need fabric in Florida and it’s easier to put strips in the suitcase.

Julie recently posted this comment:

“I think a helpful thing for new quilters is cloth management during the quilt top process. When free/liberated piecing I think it helps to have a small to mid size piece to work with. It is really hard to sew with 1/2 yard pieces. Sometimes it is hard to cut up a pretty piece of cloth but I think small pieces are easier to handle. If you have a large piece and know you have to cut it up before you sew, but you don't know how you want the shape to look once sewn, what is your advice about cutting? I think this gets into the whole design thing. Even if you are liberated, there is some vision that guides the placement, non? Maybe you could talk about that a little bit. The comfort of cutting out a pattern and sewing it together is real. Getting out of the comfort zone and appearing to just wing it is scary.”

I’ll try to answer this question. First, I agree that it is much easier to use fabric in smaller pieces. I’ve found that if I don’t cut into a piece, it very well might not get used at all.

When I’m starting on a project, I will cut strips for it. My widths of choice are 1”, 1.5”, and 2.5” – there should be an ish on the end of those. I don’t worry about precision or getting the strips as straight as they possibly can be. And I do try to vary it every once in a while, throw in a 1.25” a 1.75” and/or a 2.25”.

If I know that I will be using LOTS of a particular fabric then I may just cut some other widths as well.

If it’s a fabric I have a lot of or am not emotionally attached to, then I’ll probably cut “whole” strips from one selvage to another (so they’ll be about 42” long).

But sometimes I’ll cut out a square and slice it up instead. Or I might cut a 6” strip – that’s the width of one of my favorite rulers so it’s easy to manage. Then I’ll cut that strip in half. One half  (approx 6” by 21”) will be set aside, the other cut in half again (in other words, quartered) and then I’ll start cutting it up into different widths. Some of them will be angled. Sorta like this:

The advantage to the 6” method is that you have some larger chunks (such as sky around houses) when you need them.

But I do like my letters and blocks smalls. Those widths might be too small for you. I know some people probably look at these and see a future in the waste basket. If that’s you, then I’d probably go 1.5”, 2.5” and 3” or something like that.

Just don’t think of it as wasting fabric. You WILL use it in a free-pieced or string or crumb project.

Usually when I start a project I have some kind of vision, yes. But it might not be very extensive. I’ll just know that I want to make houses. So I start making houses. If I’m enjoying it, then I decide does it need more? Does it need something else?

I might have a bit of a drawing to guide me. Not always. I might just have a phrase I want to use. My way of working is to just start something and play. I don’t always use the blocks for anything. They’ll get aside and maybe appear in an orphan quilt or I’ll find the perfect place for them someday.

Take a look at how I worked on my quilt Terms of Endearment. I did a fairly decent job of showing pics along the way and discussing my decision making. Go here, here, here, here, and here and all together here.

I cut out strips for that project just the way I described above.

Does that help???

You know you can take a quilt for a model and start there. My first experience with free-piecing was making houses from Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking (sadly out of print but hey, at least the price of a used copy has gone down to “just” $50). I’d pick my favorite houses and try to make something similar.

Iluvmyairman asked the following:

“… my problem is binding a quilt by hand. I've always turned the backing to the front and made that my binding, but this time I am using double bias tape quilt binding. It is hard to stitch up by hand. Or maybe it's cause I don't know what I'm doing. ha ha Any thoughts or words of wisdom to help me out?”

The only way I’ve ever attached binding is by sewing it on with the machine and then hand tacking on the back. I’m out of my depth with the double bias tape. Can anyone out there offer some help?

On a complete change of topic, ohmy, I think the sun is out!!! It has been soooo gray and dreary here I’ve been losing my mind. The only brightness was a wonderful visit with Jen aka Hedgehog. Of course neither one of us thought to take photos because we were talking talking talking.

Time to run errands in the break between rainstorms. Ya’all take care!