First Day of Class w/Ruth McDowell on 04-03-12 04-11-12

Unfortunately, I still have the cold, but am much better.  I spent half a day in bed and the rest at the computer trying to catch up with e-mail neglected while I was at Empty Spools.  I also worked on the pictures.  Instead of Wordless Wednesday I will start the images from Asilomar Week 2.  

 
Ruth starts her classes with lessons on how to develop a design that can be sewn together in the "old fashioned way" - pieces sewn face to face and pressed open.  Her process is shown in all of her many books, some of which are available from Ruth's website, at your local quilt shop or on Amazon. 
www.ruthbmcdowell.com


The first full day all of the students sit around the easel where Ruth will show the different ways a design inspiration might be interpreted.  Here she has taped up three different images brought by students - Cosmos at top left and Apple Blossom at bottom right were the two she worked with. .She has taped tracing paper over an enlargement of the Cosmos above.  

 
She started by finding a line that would split the Cosmos flower into roughly half. She determined to use straight line piecing and continued dividing the flower into pieces that will be sewable. I always feel that I am watching magic as she quickly draws the lines creating a "map" of the design.  She makes it look sooo easy, but after creating 500+ quilts she has developed a fine eye for where the lines should go.  For the students it is much more difficult and sometimes takes the entire five days to finish drawing and marking the design.

 
Jolene Norman has completed the Cosmos design, transferred it to freezer paper, marked the piecing order and tick marks to be match while sewing.  She has pinned up a few fabrics to audition.

 
By the last day during the critique session she had chosen more fabrics, including some for the background.

 
For the Apple Blossom Ruth drew a few petals with straight seams and then switched to curved.  The student, Carolyn Hughey decided to use the curved seam version, going on to develop her drawing, transfer it to freezer paper, mark the piecing order and add the tick marks.

 
Carolyn has selected polkadot and plaid fabrics for her Apple Blossom quilt.

I'm going to try to show the quilts done in class from drawing to whatever had been finished by the last day.  It might make more sense to those who have not been in Ruth's classes.