Gwen Marston

Gwen Marston (October 2, 1936 - April 19, 2019) was an American quilter, quilt teacher, and author who celebrated and championed a liberated style of quilting beyond rigid commercial quilt patterns.https://www.quiltfolk.com/wp-content/uploads/gwen.pdf Marston was the author of 27 books on quilting. Many of her books taught the technique and style of improvisational quilting. She was a regular columnist for Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilt for twelve consecutive years.
==Work==
After seeing an antique quilt exhibit at the Flint Institute of Art in the mid-1970s, Marston was inspired to learn how to make quilts. When she first began quilting, Marston made traditional quilts and followed a commercial quilt pattern. 
“It was seventh grade home ec on steroids,” Marston said. She liked learning the quilting and sewing techniques, but she didn’t want to follow the commercial patterns. So, Marston began creating her own quilt designs - rooted in the Amish tradition of quilting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzESjhZ1vk
She had nineteen solo quilt exhibits and participated in numerous group quilt shows. Small Studies - an exhibit of fabric Sketch_(drawing) - was the featured exhibition at the Taupo Art Museum during the 2013 New Zealand Symposium. http://www.aqsblog.com/meet-gwen-marston-2
Marston was the author of 27 books on quilting. Many of her books taught the technique and style of improvisational (improv) quilting. She was a regular columnist for Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilt for twelve consecutive years.
Two of her books won awards. Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker (2005) won the Michigan Notable Book Award. 37 Sketches (2012) won the New York Book Show Award.
==Use of solid fabrics in her quilts==
Marston used primarily solid colored fabrics in her quilts instead of quilting fabrics with a printed, repeated pattern. In Marston’s opinion it was quilts that were made from solid fabrics that were first taken seriously as works of art. Marston cited the importance of the Abstract Design in American Quilts exhibit of Amish quilts in 1971 at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibit curators Jonathan Holstein and Gail van der Hoof identified the similarities between Amish quilts made in rural communities in Pennsylvania with modern, abstract paintings created in the mid-20th Century.
Marston believed that line and form were more clearly defined in quilts that were made with solid fabrics. Also, Martson’s hand quilting patterns - a secondary design element for quilts - showed up better on fabrics made from solid-colored fabrics.
==Lectures==
On January 18, 2014, Marston spoke at the opening reception for her exhibition, Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts, at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, MI.
In 2015, Marston was a guest on the Crafty Planner podcast and discussed how she learned to hand quilt on a quilt frame, her passion for antique and folk art quilts, and why she uses solid fabrics in her quilts. http://www.craftyplanner.com/2015/12/07/gwen-marston/
In 2016, Marston gave the keynote address at the Modern Quilt Guild’s QuiltCon conference in Pasadena, California. https://theplaidportico.com/2016/05/27/quiltcon-2016-gwen-marston/ http://blog.modafabrics.com/2016/02/a-note-about-the-keynote-gwen-marston/
==Teaching==
As a recognized quilt artist and expert, Marston taught quilting classes across the U.S.. Her quilting extended to the Internet with craft instruction videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVqL4Bj3eGE
For 30 years, Gwen led an annual quilt retreat in Beaver Island (Lake Michigan). https://www.quiltfolk.com/wp-content/uploads/gwen.pdf
==Personal life==
Marston lived on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan) until her death of cancer in April 2019. https://www.ctpub.com/blog/remembering-gwen-marston/
== Selected works ==
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Category:1936 births
Category:2019 deaths 
Category:American quilters
Category:American authors