Two Days with Gwen

It was an amazing weekend with Gwen Marston, my new BFF!  ;-)

My Liberated Amish is almost finished. I wanted to show Gwen how Tonya has been inspiring and motivating us. Tonya, were your ears burning? Not to worry, just us over on the west coast singing your praises for your Word Play book. It was a kick to be able to show this piece to Gwen.

I started off the day with a few supplies, a quilting workshop is just like camping. One day or one week, you still have to pack a lot of stuff.

Day one was Liberated Log Cabins and the ideas and designs that emerged were amazing. It was  terrific to not only be inspired by Gwens samples and books, but to see how we all had the same information and yet the individual creativity that emerged from my fellow quilters was fantastic.  If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Jackie's.  The soft neutrals with the bold accent was striking.  I'm going to have to try this combo some day.

There is always a keener in the group :-) Fabulous finish by the end of the day.  The accents carried into the border really finished this piece.  I love everything about this piece.

I believe these were Merry's blocks.  She brought her finished piece on Saturday, but sorry, no photo.  Trust me, it was amazing.  She had color, slivers of punch, curved seams.  Amazing job!

Indigo Threads, aka Sharon, stayed at my house over the weekend.  Having a roomie made this so much more like a retreat.  We didn't cook or clean, just talked quilts all weekend long.  Here is Sharons Lib Log Cabin.  She even jumped off with the border.  Don't you love the blue/green combo?  And the dark purple just gives her work punch.  Fabulous!

Here was my final layout. I love how it turned out. I've now got the center together and am pondering the border. Do I accent it with black? Do I carry the cream and red into the border? Those ideas are in the mix, but until I get some time to focus back on this piece, it will remain borderless.

There is so much to say about taking a day off work to quilt, but to have a workshop with someone as prolific as Gwen Marston, well, that was the best "mental health" day one could have. She is the most generous and funny woman. Her heart is full of love and passion for quilting and quilters. She made every one of us feel special and talented.

A HUGE shout out to Lee at Two Thimbles for making this happen, without her perseverence and dedication to bringing  world class teachers to our area, this would not have happened. Thank you Lee!

Stay tuned for day two with Gwen.
Sharon