"Early Birds" Ruth Powers - Carbondale, KS 2005 49"W x 38"L
Cotton fabrics, thread, batting. Machine pieced and quilted.
Here is an older quilt from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection added in 2007.
This is "Early Birds" (40"W x 38"L) a quilt made by Ruth Powers of Carbondale, KS. It is entirely machine pieced and quilted and won the Best of Show in the "Think Spring" catagory at IQA in Chicago in 2006.It is now part of the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and is shown here on a grey wall.
I first saw a Ruth Powers quilt in 1998 at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles and asked about availability, but they had no information. No pictures were allowed, but I stored the image of "Vireya" in my brain somewhere and didn't forget it. In early 2010 a friend heard about a new group "Kansas Art Quilters" and sent me the URL for their website. I was so impressed that they had a great website up so soon after they formed that I sent a query about membership. They replied that I could be a member, so I sent my check. When I looked at the membership list I found that Ruth Powers was a member and we exchanged the first of years of e-mails. I was so glad that I could purchase this quilt in 2006, although it is hard to choose a favorite among Ruth's many masterpiece quilts this one in particular 'spoke to me'. KAQ was a group that I enjoyed very much, even though I live so many miles away.
"Early Birds" Best Of Show at Celebrate Spring! IQF, Rosemont, IL 2006 and was in the Celebrate Spring! Special Exhibit at Houston in 2006. Published in Fons and Porter’s ”Love of Quilting” May/June 2007 and the SAQA Journal Vol. 17 - #2 Spring 2007" Ruth machine pieces EVERYTHING using commercial fabrics almost exclusively and FMQs her quilts on her home machine. She also does exquisite thread painting on some of her work.
The texture of the fabrics she selected for this quilt give the illusion of depth and the one that shows the distant trees is an inspired choice. This quilt is one that requires many close viewings to see all the details. Ruth has a commercial pattern business, INNOVATIONS, where she sells designs that are just a little different than others on the market. http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/patterns.php
Look at Ruth's work at: http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/ Her blog is www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/weblog
