Slow day

Today has been a slow day, with not much done at all.  It's all the postman's fault, as he delivered two gorgeous books to my door this morning, and I've been absorbed in them to the exclusion of much else! 

The first one was 'Material Obsession' because I have recently been introduced to Kathy Doughty's blog, and there are some amazing quilts there.  Also it cost £9.20 from Amazon, which is barely more than 2 magazines, with more content.

The second one was Gwen Marston's new book 'Liberated Medallion Quilts' because I have all of Gwen's other books and they are pure inspiration!  £13 or three magazines for this one.  Worth every penny.  (Sorry it's on its side, as I said, I've been absorbed in the books!)  The question is, which to look at first?  Difficult decision. 

 Since Gwen was a known quantity and sure to be a treat, I explored Kathy's book first.  It has some really interesting ideas in there, some very basic and some more unusual.  This circus tent quilt was one to try, and Kathy's use of colour is fabulous!  It must be something about the light down under, as I find lots of Australaisian quilters use lots of brights - which I love!

Then on to Gwen, who definitely didn't disappoint!  Lots of lovely medallion quilts inspired by antique quilts - my favourites! Here is Gwen's scrappy medallion quilt.  Lots of orphans got used up here to great effect.

And here is an applique medallion - very useful for me: more to follow!  But if you've a hankering for more books, I can recommend both of these books, with 'Material Obseession' having patterns, and Gwen's book having instructions and inspiration galore but no patterns.  You choose.