"Yellow-headed Blackbird" (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) Ruth Powers 2009 12" square
All pieced; heavily machine-quilted. Yellow on head and breast is 17 pieces.
This wonderful little quilt was part of the 2009 SAQA One-foot Square online auction and I feel so fortunate to have it. Ruth's quilts are all pieced the "old fashioned" way - right sides of the fabric together, seamed and then pressed open. Some of the tiniest pieces are smaller than a quarter inch. Her excellent free motion quilting complements the design of the pieced top and and gives texture to the shapes. She also does outstanding thread painting, although there is none in this quilt.
Ruth is currently showing the step by step process of her quilt making on her blog, using her original design of three mountain sheep. She started this series of posts on Jan 25, 2010.
7 comments:
I am so enjoying Ruth's blog as she shares her process for making her incredible quilts.
Thank you. Now, another blog to follow! I love it. Stay well.
Ruth Powers developed her process independently, but took a class from Ruth McDowell to learn HER methods. So, there is definitely a similarity in the way they work. Ruth Powers started quiltmaking in 1989, Ruth McDowell started in 1972. I'm sure that other quiltmakers in the world have also developed similar methods. Serendipity!
I love Ruth's quilts...seing them in person is even more wonderful!
One of the difficulties I have in making bird quilts is a question of background contrast. Most birds are meant to blend into their backgrounds to avoid predation....Ruth manages to be sensitive to the "natural" background but still make her birds pop.
I love, love, love her work! Thanks for sharing another, and congratulations on owning one!
Wow! Nice.
You are a fortunate lady! Ruth's quilts are just so marvelous.
This is a wonderful bird. I love the vibrancy of the colours.
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