Monday, April 17, 2017

"Summer Lily" by Ruth McDowell posted 04-16-17

This is the most spring-like quilt in TCQC.  I posted it previously in May 2009, although I purchased it in 2003.  The original post is at:   
and has a funny story about those terrible high beds one finds in motels these days.
 
"Summer Lily"  Ruth B. McDowell  2002  59"W x 70"L
Cotton fabric, cotton batting, cotton thread
Machine pieced and quilted. 
 
The actual lily plant is 7 - 9 inches tall, so this exaggeration is an eye stopper.  
One of the delights in Ruth's quilts is the variety of fabrics that she uses and manages to mix together successfully. 

In the early 90s Ruth designed a line of fabrics for South Seas and has used bits of them for years in her quilts.  The leaf in the middle with the blue nine-patches and the snaky white "stitches" is one of hers.  The Swiss chard at the bottom is a Kaffe Fassett.
 
At the top of the picture with the floating triangles and also the light fabric with white bits that is in the middle of the picture are both Ruth's fabrics.  The gold and white checks in the bottom flower is a Marimekko.
 
The back fabric is also a Marimekko.  In this picture you can see the intricate quilting done on a domestic Pfaff machine.

And here is the back with those enormous yellow/orange/green poppies - one of Marimekko's best. 
Ruth's hand lettered label and the TCQC label above it.
 
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1 comment:

Loretta said...

This morning I have a huge smile on my face after seeing this beautiful quilt. Thank you. This day is quite drizzly and grey here in Marin, so I thank you for the sunshine of Ruth's quilt. She is a marvelous quilter and fabric selector..but we've known that for years. I trust she is well and the snows have subsided!