It's About Time!

“Well, it’s about time,” I hear you muttering. “You’ve been taunting us with photos of that same red and green quilt since before Christmas!” Quite true… so with apologies for what may now be an anticlimactic reveal, let me tell you all about it.

This is the quilt I made at my first Gwen Marston Beaver Island Retreat. Gwen's topic that year (1997) was Four-Block Quilts. Much of what she taught us is outlined in her subsequent book, Classic Four-Block Applique Quilts: A Back-To-Basics Approach.

Gwen’s approach to design is rooted in the folk art tradition of artists who are self-taught rather than formally trained. She prefers to work organically, cutting shapes “by eye” directly from fabric, instead of using patterns or templates. She’s more likely to measure “by hand” (finger or knuckle) than she is to pick up a ruler. Gwen even designs her layouts right on the fabric, adding, subtracting, and moving pieces around until they look pleasing. That's what makes her quilts so free-spirited and charming!

For the retreat, I brought along four Oak Leaf & Reel blocks to use as the center of my quilt. By making them ahead of time, I was able to focus more on settings, borders, etc., during the workshop itself.

I framed my blocks with appliquéd dogtooth, vine, and berry borders. As Gwen instructed, rather than having the motifs elegantly turn the corners as they would in a traditional quilt, these march boldly off the edge in a far more casual manner.

I can’t tell you how challenging it was for me to work this way. My quilting style back then was stiff and fussy, and even though Gwen assured us there was historical precedence for her laid-back methods, it somehow felt like I was breaking the rules. 

Notice, for example, that the leaves and berries in my border are hand appliquéd, while the vine itself is top stitched by machine. What? Combining hand and machine appliqué in the same quilt? I kept looking over my shoulder for the quilt police!

Over time, I have loosened up and embraced Gwen’s relaxed, no-nonsense approach to quilt making. Her methods aren’t right or wrong, better or worse. They’re just another way of doing things!

Oak Leaf & Reel

30" x 30"

Diane Burdin, 2000