Ruth McDowell Asilomar class more pictures 03-13-10

A gorgeous sunshine filled day! And I was only outside for about ten minutes of Vitamin C. I was busy doing laundry, repacking, sorting and stacking quilts, visiting with Mary and Sylvia, and catching up with e-mail backup. I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy the Ruth McDowell class. I hope you will consider taking her class sometime in the future, it is a great boost to one's creativity. She'll be at Empty Spools again next year this same time, in Kalispell, Montana during June, and teaching classes in NW Massachusetts in July and September. http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/

Here is a detail of Patty Estey's "Helliconia" which Blogger refused to post last night. Her idea of using the black/white stripe to show the serrations on the petals is wonderful.

"Sunken Boat" Ann Shaw This is so unlike any of Ann's work that I have ever seen some of you will doubt my word, but it is indeed hers. A verrrry difficult subject requiring subtle fabric choices. It works very well, doesn't it? Ann was one of four "remedials" in the class.

"Lotus Tiles" Linda Lawrence This piece is to replicate in fabric the ceramic tiles in the bathroom of a vacation home. It is made to fit in a small space. Linda is another "remedial' student. As am I!

"Poppy" Alice Denardo The bright red Oriental Poppy against the soft violet, blue, pink background is very striking.

"Pheasant" Lynn Czaban Lynn Lynn found some great fabrics for her pheasant, including the violet tail.

"Indian Pipes" Bonnie Keller Doing the background first is sometimes the most effective way to determine what fabrics are needed for the central motif. Indian Pipes are generally white and have a translucent quality. Finding the right fabrics will be a challenge.

"Delicate Arch" Jacque Thompson All the pieces are backed with their freezer paper templates and pinned in place on the paper pattern. Jacque will sew it all together when she gets home to Utah. The blue, blue sky is very much like the sky one sees in the red rock country

This is a view of Jacque's fabric suitcase - very minimal and neat and tidy.

There were 21 students in the class. Having lost my creative mojo I did not actually do a project but worked on two preliminary designs - only on paper. Two students requested that we not photograph their work and I failed to photograph one that I liked a lot - Gail Sheirbon's "Hibiscus"! Which is strange because Gail was sitting back-to-back with me. I hope someone in the class who did photograph her work will send me a copy. Sorry, Gail.

Ruth McDowell class Asilomar 5th/final day 03-12-10

The last day of Empty Spools Session III - everything must be packed up and out of the rooms (both sleeping and class) by Noon. It is always a rush. When we finally were pulling out of the parking lot the rain was starting and the wind was high. I drove along Sunset Road and stopped for some pictures of the surf. It was high tide so there was only a little beach and a few brave souls out walking. Quite cold in the wind.

The last morning is critique where everyone can speak about their work and their experience during the week. Ruth makes comments about some of the problems the students faced and overcame.

"Asiatic Lily" Mary Jacobs

Ruth McDowell helping to hold up the design board. Mary has begun hand piecing her design and will continue as she travels by train home to Washington state.

"Geranium" Michelle Wood

Michelle has used only one clump of flowers and two petals to simplify the design for her quilt.

"Helliconia" Patty Estey

The complex piecing on this looks as though it will be well worth the effort. Colors are vivid against a varied pieced background.

"Oak Tree" Martha Calahane

She wanted the bumpy, reaching limbs of the live oak which resulted in a project that covered two design boards! Anything smaller would have required very laborious machine piecing. The background represents a sunset.

I am at Mary's tonight and, though I had a nap for an hour or so this afternoon, I am very tired. I have pictures of more projects in the class, but they will have to wait another post.

Ruth McDowell class 4th day Asilomar 03-11-10

Here is another spectacular Asilomar Beach sunset.

Some of the students have requested that their work not be photographed. I don't understand why, but it is their choice. I may ask tomorrow what their reasoning is. I have not posted any images that include their work. You can see what progress was made today if you look back at the pictures from the previous days. I always find this so astonishing because I am so poky and have a hard time just jumping in and DOING IT.

"Venice Bridge" by Claire Mitchell There was only paper and fabric being auditioned yesterday.

"Broken Wheel" - Kathy Calahane There was no fabric up yesterday.

"Little Squirt" - Debbie Van Fossen

By the end of today Debbie had all the fabrics with their freezer paper templates on the backs pinned up on her board and was sewing like the wind! I think this is one of the most successful pieces in the class.

"Cactus in Rock Fissure" - Constance Clover

The picture I posted yesterday of Ruth working the classroom shows this design in the background with no fabric pinned up. Constance has achieved amazing dimension in her cactus, hasn't she?

"Orange Lilies" - Penny Youngflesh

Penny has this all sewn together except for the pieces across the bottom. You can see the white pin heads on the pieces yet to be sewn.

"Delicate Arch" - Jacque Thompson

In yesterday's image Jacque had only the sky fabric pinned up. Here she has all of her pieces cut and pinned - ready to start sewing. Amazing. She told me before the class started that she just liked to get going and keep going. She certainly did that.

"Fluffy Dog" - Patti Voyles

She did the face first with very complicated and small pieces. Then she started the background so that she could adjust the value of the dog's body/tail to the value of the background.

"Rose" - Cynthia Wheeler

This is the design that Ruth worked out in both straight line and curved line piecing. Lovely, subtle color selection.

I have not done a project! Somewhere along the way I lost my creative mojo and am just stumbling along. I did a preliminary design for a cherry tree branch with yellow lichen, but have not enlarged it. Overdoing everything for the past few months has caught up with me and I am just so very tired. I observed a lot and listened to Ruth's lectures, comments and help for other students and I hope to do the piece after I am home again. Well, after I have slept for a week or so!

Ruth McDowell class 3rd day Asilomar 03-10-10

This is the back of Merrill Hall, the general meeting hall at Asilomar. The evening programs are held here, there is a quilt fabric shop in the back set up by The Cotton Patch (Lafayette), and this year my class is here. The view is from the front door of.....

..."The Pirates Den", one of the original buildings from 1920s. I like being in the older buildings which have a great deal of charm, despite small bathrooms, thin walls and creaking floors! It is particularly nice this year to not have any stairs to climb to get from sleeping room to classroom, because my hips are killing me. That old "Arthur Itis" is getting me down. I had a sixty minute massage today with the lovely Heidi - I was so relaxed at the end that I put my shirt on inside out and walked off without paying her! When I looked in a mirror to see if I looked any better I realized about the shirt and soon thereafter realized I had not paid. Her massage room is set up in one of the dressing rooms behind the stage in Merrill Hall, so she knew she could collect if I didn't remember! The third day (which is usually a Wednesday) is the day that almost everyone gets into fabric. This is Patti Voyles "Fluffy Dog" (her keeshond) - the completed drawing transferred to freezer paper (shiny side facing you) with all the tic marks and letter/number indicators for piecing. She is auditioning fabric for the background and will consider what needs to be replaced as she is working on the dog figure, starting with the face.

On the left is Jacqui Thompson with her "Delicate Arch" on the design board behind her - the picture she used for design inspiration is on the top right corner of the board and she is auditioning some fabric for the sky. Her table faces that of her friend Claire Mitchell - she is auditioning fabric for her "Venice Bridge" on the design board to her right

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Martha Calahane and her daughter Kathy have been to Empty Spools Seminars every year for 25 years - they are quite a pair and it is fun to be in class with them. Martha "Live Oak" design takes up two design boards and is going to be a spectacular quilt.

Penny Youngflesh's "Orange Lilies" is getting together fast - her fabric choices are spread out on her table.

Ruth (in her plaid shirt) has to keep moving to keep up with the 21 students she has working on 21 different projects. She is beside the table of Constance Clover who is doing "Cactus in Rock Fissure". Students put their names on a chalkboard to request her help and she works the list from top down. Since it is hard to learn every one's name in just four days we list our first name and the name of our project - Penny Orange Lilies, Martha Oak Tree, etc.

NOTE: These project names are the names I have applied to the different projects and will not necessarily be the actual name of the completed quilt.

Ruth McDowell class 2nd day Asilomar 03-09-10

One of the students brought a picture of a lovely white tinged with pink rose as her design inspiration. Ruth demonstrated the straight seam piecing method - as you see, she sticks her tongue out when concentrating, just the way many of us do.

And then she redid the design using the curved seam piecing. I believe the student decided to do the curved seams.

I usually take Ruth out to dinner one night and tonight was the night. We went to the Red House, a favorite restaurant on Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove. Lovely lamb for me and delicious roasted chicken for Ruth. They did not have any olallieberry pie this evening. Ruth declined dessert, but I had a yearning and when we arrived back on campus I went down to the dining hall where dinner was in progress. The desserts are now served buffet style as this picture shows - tables loaded with hot servers containing apple 'something' (Betty, maybe?), plates and two humongous bowls of whipped cream.

I was awe stricken at so much whipped cream in one bowl. I'll bet they had a lot to throw out. But I did my share to not waste it.

At the request of Diana McClun, who is one of the triumvirate that runs Empty Spools, I showed the Ruth McDowell quilts I have with me as part of "Show,Share & Tell" at the evening program. It was fortunate because the PowerPoint program Ruth had prepared on her Mac would not play on the Microsoft projector (or whatever it is called). So, she had only a few small hen quilts to show, plus her wonderful new horse quilt and the pair of little oxen.
http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/catalog.cfm

Tom Atkins, who does beaded quilts, and Elly Sienkiewicz, who does Baltimore Album hand applique, were the other two teachers who spoke at tonight's program.

By now it is 10:30pm and I need to walk back to my room - fortunately it is not raining this evening, but the cold wind is still blowing.

Ruth McDowell class - Asilomar 03-08-10

This was the first day of my five days with Ruth McDowell. Yesterday's two hours don't really count in my book! As she always does on the first day of her Designing from Nature class she had everyone bring their design inspiration up to pile on her table. Then everyone gathers 'round and she starts demonstrating how to change the picture/drawing into a design that can be pieced using the traditional front-side to front-side of the fabric, sew the seam and open the pieces flat and continue sewing pieces together. She is absolutely amazing as she whips through one after the other 'inspiration' showing us how she would work out the piecing. She makes it seem effortless, but by the end of the day when she has done eighteen completely different designs she is drained. I would be collapsed on the floor!! She has four "remedial" students (as we call those of us who have taken her class before), the rest are all newbies! She has her work cut out for her.

Our classroom is in Merrill Hall where the evening programs are held. Our individual tables are arrayed along the outside edges of the hall, so we sit in the auditorium style seating for the demonstrations. It is a nice large area to spread out in, but we cannot work in the evening between 7 and 8:30p while the programs are in progress.
On the stage you can see some of David Taylor's quilts - he is the artist-in-residence this week and is working in the back of Merrill Hall, demonstrating to all who come how he makes his quilts.

Ruth tapes a piece of tracing paper over the design inspiration and draws the piecing lines with different colored felt tip pens. The first decision is if straight or curved piecing would work best. This geranium would be very complex for a beginning project and she suggested the student just do part of it. The student can, of course, choose to do the entire design.

This student had drawn her own design of a girl sitting cross legged in a field of dandelions weaving dandelion chains. She also brought a portrait of herself as a girl so the image would resemble herself. Ruth suggested she focus on the girl and just hint at the field of dandelions and put the peach tree branches and peaches in as a border.

One student had taken a picture of this pheasant while on vacation on the Oregon Coast. Quite a lovely bird, but there was a large branch behind him and lots of extraneous foliage. Ruth suggested a simpler background and sketched in the seam lines for the bird. The blue hatch marks on the right and bottom indicate an integrated border that would balance the long tail with the compact body on the left.

You can see she still has a pile of design papers on her table! This is a broken wheel in the desert which will require both curved and straight seam piecing.

Here she has covered the image with tracing paper and started to indicate the seam lines.

And then I had to leave the room and didn't go back before the end of the class. Tomorrow we will all work to finalize our designs and prepare the freezer paper templates with their tick marks and sewing order numbers.

We have had some very heavy rain today and strong gusty winds. But mostly it has just been cloudy and cool.