New Book By Gwen Marston

Yippee!!! Gwen Marston's new book is out:
Here is Gwen's write-up for Ideas and Inspirations, Abstract Quilts in Solids, by Gwen Marston, Photography by Gregory Case:

"Gwen has written a new book and this one is especially designed for grownup quilters. It's a book for the many accomplished quilters who are not looking for yet another project book with pages of detailed elementary instructions on how to make someone else's quilt. Rather, it's intended for quilters who are seeking ideas and inspiration for their own work. This 67 page book begins with a 7 page discussion about working with solids and Gwen's fresh approach to design concepts. The remaining pages are in full color showing full page photographs of 28 quilts with close-ups and captions of each on the opposite page. Gregory Case did the photography and it's first rate. He also did the photography for the Freddy Moran/Gwen Marston 2006, Collaborative Quilting book and also the upcoming Marston/Moran quilt book to be released July '09."

Tonya again. Ooh, I love the picture on the cover and the bit about how it's a book for grownups.

The book will be available on Gwen's webpage so that you can have it autographed, but as of the time I'm writing this the info isn't posted. In the near future, you will also be able to order the book from Gregory Case's website.

However the book IS available for purchase right now on Lulu.com in two different versions. The print version is $25.50 and can be shipped internationally as well as the U.S. An e-book (PDF download) -- only available through Lulu -- costs $17.50. It has the same content but is presented in a slightly different way. If you click either one of these Lulu links you can read more about the book and preview some pages. Just be warned, it does take awhile to load.

For those of you who are lucky enough to be going to the Beaver Island Retreat, Gwen should have plenty of books on hand for you to buy them there.

Remember how I received a letter from Gwen awhile back? Well when I responded, I told her that I was sure that all of her fans who have blogs and webpages can really do a whole lot to help her promote this book. She's self-publishing this one, so you know she'll need all of us cheerleading and spreading the news. I'll have more more info for you soon on how you can do that and maybe add a widget to your sidebar. Or should I say Bonnie will since she's the computer mastermind.

By the way, here's a sneak peek at Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again: Freewheeling Takes on Traditional Quilt Designs.

It's 1am here and I'm a bit foggy. I've tried to get this as accurate as possible and I hope the links work. Fingers crossed we all get our books soon!

Leftovers

I've heard from some quilters that they don't like making the liberated wonky quilts because there is too much fabric wasted. I will grant you that, but I remember way back to working with templates and sometimes there was waste that way too. If you want interesting shapes, you just gotta deal with this:

I actually think it's beautiful. I'm saving these bits - I might be able to work them into a thready someday. Maybe one where I don't stitch everything down, because I love the freedom of this:

I'm sewing on my Amish L-O-V-E blocks, the ones I made duplicates of so that I could see how other people put them together too. It's a secret until next year unless everyone finishes their tops before then. So I can't show you what I'm doing but I'm really enjoying myself. It was torture making the dupes - I hated it. But now I'm having fun. I have most of my center pieced together.

Today I found the blog of Andrea Zuill, it's called BadBird's Musings of a Small Angry Bird. I thorougly enjoy her attitude and lively approach to quilting and embroidery. She's also a gifted painter. Check out Snake in the Grass - look at all the lovely layers of color and stitch. She's issued a challenge: Stitch by Hand's Old School Sewing Competition which might be just the thing for you if you enjoying working by hand. The winners get one of her lovely prints. The sign-up ends September 6th.

Architecture in Helsinki

I've been sewing blocks in my solid Amishy fabrics and getting some progress made. Of course I haven't put away the fabrics from the last several quilts I've pondered or actually completed. My sewing area, as usual, is a mess.

Lily refuses to look.

This isn't the kind of thing I usually do, but I love this video for "Like it or Not" from the band Architecture in Helsinki. There is nothing in here about architecture nor Helsinki. But it does have the coolest animated embroidery I've ever seen. Lions, flamingos, palm trees, it's wonderful. If you don't like the music (which all of you won't) then watch with the audio off. It's really fun:


Architecture in Helsinki - Like It Or Not from helsinkids on Vimeo.

Bright Applique for a Rainy Day

We've been getting lots of rain lately. It hasn't let up today at all and I refuse to go out of the apartment.

I quite like this photo even though I had to take it really fast before the umbrella moved out of the frame. (No, the umbrella wouldn't be moving all by itself, but I didn't care about photographing the person holding it.) See what I do for you guys? Standing out on a rainy balcony in my bare feet...

The weather is blah, I'm blah. I actually took a look at the bottle of anti-inflammatories I've been gulping down and discovered that it can cause drowsiness. Oh, yes it can. Anyway, about that sorry excuse of a knee - I've decided to put off taking care of it until I get back to America, which will be next year.

Enough gloom. I ordered a really fun book after seeing photos of quilts done by the maker and her students on Kristin's blog. Lily does her Vanna White impression for Hand-Appliqued Quilts by Tonye Belinda Phillips:

Isn't it bright and cheerful? Tonye is a big fan of Gwen Marston's and it shows in her light-hearted approach and love of hand work, including hand quilting. Gwen wrote a recommendation for the book, which was another reason I wanted to get it. Tonye has a fun approach to choosing fabrics, mixing repros with brights, getting ever brighter as the years go by. You can see some of the quilts here, my favorite is Jammin' With Scarlet.

By the way, another folk art quilting book I highly recommend is Roberta Horton's Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do. It's out of print, but you can get used copies right now at low prices. I just wish Roberta would write a new book AND design a new line of fabric.

Kitties and Fabric

It's been too long since I've posted pics of my kittens. That should actually be "kittens" since the girls are now four and a half years old. You'll also see hints of a project I've been working on, though I think I'm going to set it aside for awhile. Have to say, trying to keep things secret is really bad for my blogging.

Lily:
Pokey:

Upside down Pokey:
Big yawn:

I still don't have a hand quilting project and it's making me nuts. I've put this time to good use though and finally finished my Amish One Patch (which I quilted in Cairo, which tells you how long that has been on my to-do list) and Joyeux Noel. Next is hand stitching the binding of Mini Hotflash. I still have two enormous quilts to add binding to. Sigh. I really shouldn't let these things stack up.
Some more Fungly Quilt Challengers: Woolywoman and Roz.
Sarah posted ages ago on her I-Spy leftover bit log cabins and her love of scraps and I can't remember if I told you about it. Well, doesn't hurt to recommend it twice, because it's a very fun post. Sarah is also an ardent Flickrer and has now created a Flickr group for fans of Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran's Collaborative Quilting. Check it out here.