Ruth McDowell's "Flamingoes" 03-27-17

This is a repeat of a post from December 23, 2013.  It is a fabulous quilt, one of Ruth's best, I think.  So, I am sharing it again, so that more readers can enjoy it. 

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 www.ruthbmcdowell.com

 

Just a few weeks before the current [2013] exhibit was hung at Visions Art Museum in San Diego an estate auction company in Olympia, WA, contacted Ruth McDowell (using the contact on the quilt label - hint, hint) about this quilt which they found in the possessions of a lady who had recently died. The estate people had never seen anything like it and had no idea of its value.

 After talking to the lady, Ruth told her that she might know someone who would be interested in buying the quilt and gave her my number.  Then she called me.  I could hardly wait.  When the call came I told the lady that I could not go to Olympia for an auction, but I was interested in buying the quilt outright.  We came to agreement on the price and I called my credit card company to warn them - my limit isn't very high and wouldn't cover the quilt.  And the estate company wanted either cash or credit card.  They shipped the quilt and I had just enough time to photograph it and get the photo in the gallery guide.  Whew.  Since I was taking it to VAM I didn't hang it in my house, so the first time I ever saw the quilt on the wall was at the gallery.  It looks fabulous!  Thanks to Ruth for making the quilt and for making my connection.


"A Rash of Flamingoes"  2000  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  100"W x 52"L
Commercial, hand-dyed, batik cotton fabric; cotton batting, cotton threads.
Machine pieced and quilted.
This quilt appears in Ruth's book "Fabric Journey", publ by C and T 2005. and in "Ruth B. McDowell's Design Workshop" publ by C and T 2007.

Ruth sold this quilt in 2000 to a lady who lived in Alaska, so I'm happy that the Flamingos are finally in the sunshine of sunny Southern California.

Ruth does such amazing things with her fabric choices.  Who else would use one fabric between the legs and others in the background? 

A rather realistic eye staring out at us.

Notice the flowery fabrics (like 30s reproductions) used for feathers.
I think of the silvery ribbon fabric at the bottom left as the water the flamingos are wading in.

The value contrasts make these guys look three dimensional.

This is a quilt I could hang with the back out.  Merimekko is wonderful, isn't it?

A fancy label.  Notice that there is a street address so someone can contact the artist.

www.ruthbmcdowell.com
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KoKo on a Saturday 03-25-17

What a sweet little dog he is.  He is taking a nap with his best friend, Froggie.  KoKo has lost his curls for a while, since he went to the groomer on Wednesday. 

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Friday Feet 03-24-17

She says they are VERY comfortable.

 

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Looking back 03-23-17

This is a quilt I made in 2005 - one of my few attempts at abstract design.  I rather like the way it turned out.  It was based on Sue Benner's techniques and has her finish on the edges.   I was reminded of this quilt now because I was taking a Sue Benner class in abstraction and because I ran into the owner of the quilt.  She says she still enjoys it after so many years.  And I still like it, too.

 

"Underview"  Del Thomas 2005  17" square

Fused using silk, polyester, cotton, rayon fabrics.  Machine quilted. 

 

The yellow/white/orange fabric had a manufacture's splice and I just left it in.  Such a brave thing for me to do!  But there was a limited amount of that fabric.  Guess we could call it texture. 

 

The bird is on the back outlined with black fabric marker.

 

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Wordless Wednesday 03-22-17

 

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Wildflowers in California 03-21-17

 

This picture has gone around online for at least ten years.  It was taken in a great wildflower year somewhere northeast of the Grapevine.  The only place I have seen such a profusion of wildflowers was in eastern Utah one spring 30 or so years ago and those pictures are all on slides stored in the closet!.  I wonder if this valley looks like this now after our heavy rainfall.  I've heard that this year there are huge traffic jams on weekends where people go to look at wildflowers.

This is at Gorman, CA, on the Ridge Route south of the Grapevine.  I took it in March 2003. The blue is lupine and the yellow mostly California poppies.

 

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Revisiting a Caryl Bryer Fallert quilt from 2003 03-19-17

I posted this quilt in December 2008 and have copied the caption I wrote then.  I remember that I was surprised when it arrived in the mail that it is so heavy, but all those seams really add up.  I like the name "Reflection" as it looks like that to me. Caryl's website is still one of the best - I recommend it. 

 

 

Reflection #9 Caryl Bryer Fallert 1993 36"W x 26"L

In 2003 someone alerted me to art quilts being offered on eBay. Of course, I had to look! There were a number of quilts, plus paintings and, if I remember correctly, some sculpture, all from a corporate collection and all up for auction. I checked with Caryl, who had not been advised of the sale and she confirmed that some of the quilts on the listing were those she had made in 1993 for the corporate client. Now the corporation was closing one of their locations and was selling the art. The starting prices were ridiculous - this quilt started at $25. Low prices like this are bad for the artist and bad for the market because they warp the value of art quilts. I ended up with three of her quilts. This one uses the 3-D tucks that, as far as I know, she invented.

If you have not been to Caryl's website, put aside a day to wander through it. She offers more information than any other quilt maker/artist - it is a great website.

http://bryerpatch.com

 

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