Gwen Marston

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.{{Cite web |last=Cox |first=Meg |title=Gwen Marston – Her own fine self |url=https://www.quiltfolk.com/wp-content/uploads/gwen.pdf}} She initially learned to quilt from Mennonite women in Oregon,{{Cite news |last=Hough Roda |first=Barbara |date=1991-06-09 |title=Meet quilt detectives, Marston and Cunningham |pages=127 |work=Sunday News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97505321/meet-quilt-detectives-marston-and/ |access-date=2022-03-13}}{{Cite book |last=Marston |first=Gwen |title=A Common Thread |publisher=Martingale |year=2016 |isbn=978-1604688139 |pages=9}} and in 1977, she met quilter and quilt historian Mary Schafer (1910–2006),{{Cite web |date=2007 |title=Mary Schafer |url=https://quiltershalloffame.net/mary-schafer/ |access-date=July 24, 2022 |website=Quilters Hall of Fame}} who became a primary influence.{{Cite book |last=Marston |first=Gwen |title=Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker |publisher=University of Michigan |year=2004 |isbn=0472068555 |pages=vii}} Later, Marston authored a biography, Mary Schafer: American Quilt Maker, that was reviewed by library journals{{Cite journal |last=Hamel-Schwulst |first=Mary |date=2004-07-15 |title=Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker (Book) |journal=Library Journal |volume=129 |issue=12 |pages=79}}{{Cite journal |last=Herman |first=B L. Choice |date=January 2005 |title=Mary Schafer, American quilt maker (review) |journal=Middletown |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=842 |id={{ProQuest| }}}}  and won the Michigan Notable Book Award.{{Cite web |title=Library of Michigan – 2005 Michigan Notable Books |url=https://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan/0,9327,7-381-88854_90002-109909--,00.html |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=www.michigan.gov}} The Mercer Museum brought Marston to give a lecture and gallery talk in 2017 when it displayed the exhibition "The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History" curated by Mary Worrall.{{Cite web |last=Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle |date=April 27, 2017 |title=The Mercer Museum Presents: The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History |url=https://www.mercermuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Mary-Schafer-Exhibit-Press-Release-3.pdf |access-date=July 23, 2022 |website=Press Release Archives}}{{Cite web |last=Worrall |first=Mary |date=July 23, 2022 |title=The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History |url=https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=specialcolls&kid=12-91-471 |website=The Quilt Index}}

Marston created hundreds of quilts using different techniques: hand and machine piecing, hand and machine applique, and hand and machine quilting. Her early quilts were bed-sized.{{Cite news |last=Schleper |first=Anne |date=1997-04-17 |title=Quilting author to give lecture and workshop |pages=17 |work=Evansville Courier and Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97501804/quilting-author-to-give-lecture-and/ |access-date=2022-03-13}} The birth of a grandchild inspired her to apply her quilt making skills to children's books, a technique she shared in her 2002 book Fabric Picture Books. Later in her career, she was excited by the artistic growth that came from her exploration of making small quilts.{{Cite web |last=Beale |first=Pam |date=November 28, 2014 |title=Gwen Marston talks about her art book 37 Sketches |url=https://pambealartquilts.blogspot.com/2014/11/gwen-marston-talks-about-her-art-book.html |website=Pam Beale Art Quilts}} Her thirtieth book, A Common Thread, provides a retrospective of her contributions to applique, traditional patchwork, her signature liberated patchwork, string quilts, and abstract quilts in solids. Solo exhibitions of her work include "37 Sketches: Small Quilt Studies by Gwen Marston" at the Taupo Art Museum in Taupo, New Zealand,{{Cite web |last=Garber |first=Gail |date=September 1, 2013 |title=37 Sketches: Small Quilt Studies by Gwen Marston |url=https://gailgarber.com/37-sketches-small-quilt-studies-by-gwen-marston/ |access-date=July 23, 2022 |website=Gail's Quilting Blog}} "Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts" at the Dennos Art Museum in Traverse City, Michigan,{{Cite web |last=Merry |first=Colin |date=2014-01-14 |title=Dennos to host paper and fiber art exhibits |url=https://www.recordpatriot.com/local-news/article/Dennos-to-host-paper-and-fiber-art-exhibits-14319495.php |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Benzie Record Patriot |language=en-US}} and twenty-seven others.{{Cite web |last=McCray |first=Linzee |date=February 18, 2016 |title=A Note About the Keynote: Gwen Marston |url=https://my.modafabrics.com/2016/02/a-note-about-the-keynote-gwen-marston |access-date=July 24, 2022 |website=Moda Fabrics Supplies}}

Marston shared her approach to quilting through books, videos, and classes around the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.{{Cite book |last1=Houck |first1=Carter |url=http://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810934573 |title=The quilt encyclopedia illustrated |last2=Museum of American Folk Art |date=1991 |publisher=New York : H.N. Abrams in association with the Museum of American Folk Art |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0810934573}}{{Cite news |last=Laing |first=Melissa |date=1989-08-25 |title=Quilters share ideas on applique methods |pages=14 |work=Longview Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97508930/quilters-share-ideas-on-applique-methods/ |access-date=2022-03-13}} For 30 years, Marston led the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat (BIQR), a series of 4-day workshops, initially held at Central Michigan University's Biological Station{{Cite web |date=1 September 1992 |title=Quilters retreat to Beaver Island |url=https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=CharlevoixBB19920901-01&e=-------en-10--1--txt-txIN---------- |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=Beaver Beacon — Digital Michigan Newspapers Collection}} on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)https://www.quiltfolk.com/wp-content/uploads/gwen.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} and later in Elk Rapids, MI. In 1989, she talked about the ongoing revival of quilting and recognized that she was spending more of her time talking about quilts than making quilts.{{Cite news |last=Brokenborough |first=Patrick |date=1989-04-20 |title=Experts say quilting revival in no danger of slowdown |pages=60 |work=The Paducah Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97508683/experts-say-quilting-revival-in-no/ |access-date=2022-03-13}} In public lectures, Marston focused on ways that old quilts could inspire new ones.{{Cite news |last=Hansell |first=Betsey |date=1986-09-18 |title=Old quilts inspire new variations |pages=148 |work=Detroit Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97501516/old-quilts-inspire-new-variations/ |access-date=2022-03-13}}{{Cite news |last=Kinsey |first=Angie |date=2002-04-24 |title=Sometimes new isn't better |pages=84 |work=The Paducah Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97501403/sometimes-new-isnt-better/ |access-date=2022-03-13}} {{Cite news |date=1989-04-09 |title=Country Patch quilters slate Thursday meeting |pages=31 |work=Longview News-Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97503464/country-patch-quilters-slate-thursday/ |access-date=2022-03-13}} In 2016, she gave the keynote address, "Liberated Quiltmaking: It's About Making It YOUR Way," at the Modern Quilt Guild's QuiltCon conference in Pasadena, California, where she also had an exhibition, "Gwen Marston: Abstract Quilts in Solids."{{Cite web |last=Portico |first=Plaid |date=2016-05-27 |title=QuiltCon 2016: Gwen Marston |url=https://theplaidportico.com/2016/05/27/quiltcon-2016-gwen-marston/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=The Plaid Portico |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2016-02-18 |title=A Note About the Keynote: Gwen Marston |url=https://my.modafabrics.com/2016/02/a-note-about-the-keynote-gwen-marston |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=modafabrics.com |language=en}}

• {{Cite book|last=Marston|first=Gwen|title=A Common Thread: A Collection of Quilts|publisher=That Patchwork Place|year=2016|isbn=978-1604688139}}
• Marston, Gwen (2016). American Quilter's Society. Liberated Quiltmaking. DVD. Iquilt Bernina. {{ISBN|978-1604603750}} {{OCLC|1004749933}}
• {{Cite book|last=Marston|first=Gwen|title=Liberated Medallion Quilts|publisher=American Quilters Society|year=2012|isbn=978-1604600285}}
• {{Cite book |last=Marston |first=Gwen |title=37 Sketches |publisher=Six Mile Creek Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0615496634}}
• Marston, Gwen (2010). Liberated Quiltmaking II. American Quilter's Society. {{OCLC|1005485040}}
• {{Cite book |last=Marston |first=Gwen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/241304957 |title=Collaborative quilts II |date=2009 |publisher=Lark Books |others=Freddy Moran |isbn=978-1600594397 |location=New York |oclc=241304957}}
• Best seller in 2009{{Cite journal |date=November 1, 2009 |title=Crafts Bestsellers |journal=Library Journal |volume=134 |issue=18 |pages=100 |id={{ProQuest| }}}}
• Marston, Gwen (2004). Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker. University of Michigan Press, 2004. {{OCLC|52860073}}
• Winner Michigan Notable Book Award 2005.
• {{Cite book|last=Marston|first=Gwen|title=Liberated String Quilts|publisher=C & T Pub.|year=2003|isbn=978-1571202079|oclc=51631011}}
• Marston, Gwen (2002). Fabric Picture Books. American Quilter's Society. {{OCLC|48642630}}
• Marston, Gwen (1996). Liberated Quiltmaking. American Quilter's Society. {{OCLC|035285428}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Marston|first1=Gwen|title=Quilting With Style: Principles for Great Pattern Design|last2=Cunningham|first2=Joe|publisher=American Quilters Society|year=1993|isbn=978-0891458142}}

Marston also enjoyed gardening, especially daffodils.{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Jean |url=http://archive.org/details/throughgardengat0000well |title=Through the garden gate : quilters and their gardens |date=1999 |publisher=Lafayette, CA : C & T Pub. |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1571200655 |pages=42–49}} She died of cancer in April 2019.{{Cite web |date=April 19, 2019 |title=Remembering Gwen Marston |url=https://www.ctpub.com/blog/remembering-gwen-marston/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=C&T Publishing |language=en}}

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Category:2019 deaths

Category:American women writers

Category:American folk artists

Category:American quilters

Category:American women artists

Category:1936 births