An Interview with Designer Martha Walker

We caught up with Henry Glass designer, Martha Walker of Wagon West Designs, who is the face behind the recently released collection, "A Prairie Journal". 

Martha's exciting news is that she is working on a new book that will be released this spring. 


HG: Thanks so much for taking a few minutes for Henry Glass blog fans. Any designer that also moves into the realm of author is inspiring. Please share with us more about the book, what it's about and the focus. 

Martha: My series started with Annie's Scrapbag 4 years ago. I came up with the concept while on a hike, which is typical. Hiking is a great way for me to free my mind and come up with ideas. I like having a theme to center a collection of projections around. I also love history in general, and specifically, the history of quilt making, especially the time period of the nineteenth century. 

Each book in the series centers around a fictional quiltmaker living in the nineteenth century, a little about what her life is like or what inspires her.  The projects in the book then reflect the quiltmaker's story, with the projects including quilts, wool applique and other needlework projects.

The book that is soon to be released is actually second in the series, called "Betsy's Scrapbag."  It's an exciting story of her life and her motivation during that time. 

HG: What made you decide to self-publish versus the traditional publishing route?

Martha: I have done both, and there are definitely a lot of advantages to going the traditional route. But because this was going to be an ongoing series, I wanted to have complete creative control over both the look of the book and the content.

HG: Is book writing still allowing time for creating projects, collections, and teaching?

Martha: The bulk of my time in working on a book is the actual designing and production of the projects, during which I normally take care of most of the instructional diagrams and templates as I go along. 

I don't really have a set time to finish (an advantage to self-publishing) - when I have a good collection of projects, I'm done! While I'm working on the projects I can take breaks for teaching, working on collections, etc., as I go along. Crunch time is when all of the projects are completed and it's time to sit down and put it all together with the written instructions and organization of the book.

HG: What is the priority in life these days for you?

Martha: Of course, family always comes first! Creatively, I would like to continue designing fabric collections that render a vintage appearance, continue designing projects for my book series, and sharing my love for quilt-making and other needle arts with others.

HG: Thank you Martha, we are so lucky that you have shared your talents with us!

Everyone, please visit the website to see Martha Walker's newest collection, "A Prairie Journal."  You can see for yourself that she truly is artistically inspired by the simplicity of an earlier time.  Here's a picture of her strike-offs from her latest collection. 

How about you? Does simplicity inspire you? Do you sometimes dream of having a simpler life? (Aside from churning our own butter, of course).