What Do You Get?

This sounds like one of those jokes where you cross two things, say a cat and a parrot, and end up with something new. What do you get when you cross animal print fabrics with Gwen Marston’s Liberated Quiltmaking techniques? You get a quilt like this:

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When my boys were little and had to accompany me to the quilt shop, I’d sometimes placate them by letting them pick out a fat quarter of fabric they liked. My nine year old son spotted a whole bundle of animal prints and begged me to make a quilt with them. How could I refuse, even though they were just about they last thing I ever envisioned myself using?

The beauty of making a “liberated” quilt is that you don’t have to start with a plan. I had no idea where the design would take me. I just began cutting out animals and framing them with a dark fabric, aptly named “Kitambaa,” the Swahili word for “cloth." These vignettes became the quilt’s focal points.


Next, I added familiar quilt elements like flying geese, log cabin, shoo fly, stars, four patch, nine patch and hour glass blocks, all made with Gwen’s characteristic wonkiness.


The quilt evolved organically. When units were too long, I cut them down. When they were too short, I added to them. And while the layout may look random, units were arranged and rearranged, puzzle-like until they fit.


This quilt was successful on many levels. It used up just about every square inch of jungle fabric we bought. It taught an up-tight quilter how to loosen up and enjoy the process of working intuitively. And it pleased a young boy so much that he's slept under the quilt for years, even taking it off to college with him!


And if you're wondering what you get when you cross a cat and a parrot, it's a carrot!

Get Liberated

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In the 27 years since taking up my needle, one woman's influence has been a constant in my work. Gwen Marston impressed me early on with her knowledge of quilt history, her reverence for traditional quilts, her methods for designing custom applique, piecing and quilting patterns and her ability to throw out the rules and encourage us to create original quilts of our own.


As Gwen’s designs and freeform construction techniques become more mainstream, it is easy to forget the tremendous impact her work has had on quilt making the world over. Her “liberated” methods for sewing blocks and composing quilts revolutionized the way many of us quilters work. Read more about Gwen Marston HERE and HERE.


This “Black and Bright” quilt was made during one of several Beaver Island Quilt Retreats I attended over the years. It exemplifies Gwen’s “liberated” quilt construction techniques: bold color, irregularly cut fabric, intuitive block construction, miniature “compositions” in the sashing, all tied together with a unique quilting design. This quilt couldn’t be more different from my usual style. But it taught me a lot and has become one of my favorites!

Gwen’s book, Liberated Quiltmaking, which outlines her novel construction techniques, is currently out of print. Tonya Ricucci, from Lazy Gal Quilting, has approached the publisher about reissuing this pivotal book. If you or someone you know would like a copy of Gwen’s book, please visit Tonya HERE, read her post, and leave her a comment or e-mail. The deadline for expressing your interest is the end of June.

Spring Has Sprung ~ Sort Of

"Possibly God knows that if spring came all at once, we should die of it."

Gladys Taber
Stillmeadow Sampler


Yesterday was my first outing in four months. The day was cold and damp, so I dressed in a turtleneck sweater plus a jacket to keep out the chill. As we made the awkward transfer from wheelchair to car, I wished I had grabbed a pair of gloves as well. It's funny, our weather seems to have changed little since the day I came home from the hospital in December.

We've had some shorts and tee shirts weather, but it's been interspersed with overnight frosts, blustery winds and plenty of rain. Guess that's the nature of spring ~ fickle.

Our trees, bushes and grass are just starting to green up. I love spring's first green! It's such an in your face color. It's bold and loud and tart and assertive. It will not be ignored! But it lasts such a short time. I'm glad I chose this week to venture out.

This is the springiest quilt I have in my collection. In spite of its pastel colors, it seems loud and tart and assertive too. Quilts made using Gwen Marston's Liberated Quiltmaking techniques all end up with a bit of attitude.

The fabrics in this quilt are scraps of 1940's prints that my friend, Betty, gave me. I was able to eke out a few Shoo Fly blocks but near the end, I found myself rummaging through the trash for enough scraps to make a sawtooth border, or as Gwen would describe it, minimal sawtooth.

Shoo Fly

29" square

© DJB, 1997