Monday, December 10, 2018

A very early Ruth B. McDowell quilt 1982 12-09-18

This quilt appeared in Ruth's first book "Symmetry".  Beside the fact that I always like Ruth's work, it is blue and yellow, my favorite color combination.  I added it to TCQC in 2002.  I have used her symmetry techniques in several quilts and greatly enjoyed the process.  The book is sometimes available secondhand online or in secondhand bookshops. 


"Lightning Strike"  1982  Ruth B. McDowell  44"W x 78.5"L
Cotton fabrics, batting, and thread.  Machine pieced and quilted. 

I see the quilting pattern as an early version of Ruth's distinctive "Baptist Fan" quilting that she has used extensively throughout her career.  Del 

Quoting from Ruth's book "Symmetry":    "The patterned fabrics used in this quilt have a very significant impact on carrying out the lightning theme.  The large scale drapery print used in the outer border, containing as it does hints of yellows, pinks, and browns, along with gray and blue, works to carry the colors of the pieced blocks into the border.   An inner border of bands of colors, butted rather than mitered at the corners, and varying top to bottom, was suggested to me by studying the borders on oriental scroll paintings. 
Quilting:  A free motion pattern of arcs and clouds, done by eye without previous marking, was stitched in a continuous line across the whole surface with black thread.  It reinforces for me the turmoil of a thunderstorm. " 
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