WHAT GWEN MARSTON KNOWS ABOUT OLD QUILTS

CRAZY COTTON QUILT TOP
maker unknown, c. 1920-1940

Gwen Marston taught me to see the possibilities in old quilts, pointing out the rich tradition on which to improvise. The quilts of interest to Gwen were quilts with visual impact and surprise---something random, something clever, something irregular and a means to an end. Random and irregular design was the result of available material and scraps, and clever construction designed to finish the job. 

Look carefully at the seam lines. Look at the fabric and shapes and wonder about how it came to be in a quilt. The quilt will tell you a lot about the quilt maker's decisions. Choices about color and design, placement of pieces really, showed individual preferences of the maker and overall utility. No prescribed formula or pattern guided this process.

Here is what Gwen had to say about this quilt: "The Crazy Cotton Quilt Top...is an example of the free-spirited quilts that I found intriguing. Because there is more to see and more to figure out, quilts like this hold my attention longer than their predictable, well-organized, color-coordinated, pattern-based, uptown sisters." Gwen Marston in Liberated Quiltmaking II, AQS 2010, p. 6. 

Crazy Cotton Quilt Top, published in Liberated Quiltmaking II and formerly Gwen's, now lives with me. This old quilt is now my new teaching companion from one of my favorite companions. 

Take a look at White Chocolate Mocha Joe studying this old quilt. He is the in house quilt expert, supervisor of time management-studio boss, and top dog.