Ruth McDowell quilt from TCQC 06-25-23

There are dozens of Ruth's quilts in the Collection and I love every one, but there are a few that I really cherish.  Especially this one of "Harvey", the everyday name for the registered name of Baron von Ruffhausen.  Bernese Mountain dogs are the favorite of Ruth's family and Harvey ruled the house of Ruth's daughter and family.  He has long gone over the rainbow bridge, but his memory lingers in everyone's heart and in this wonderful playful quilt. 

"Baron von Ruffhausen"  Ruth B. McDowell - Minneapolis, MN   2004

Commercial cotton fabrics, machine pieced, machine quilted.

Ruth purposefully chose Marimekko's bright prints to contrast with the dignity of this great dog.   Her machine piecing is simply impeccable and the straight seams seem to magically read as curves.  

My favorite part is his feet.  Created with solid white fabric and each toe defined with black quilting stitches.  

Such a fine touch makes me look closer to a quilt every time. 

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More Fabric 03-09-23

Just to add some words to Wordless Wednesday.  An explanation of sorts.  

In yesterdays post the top picture of piles of fabric is mine from one of the times I was trying to reorganize.  The other two are of student's tables at Empty Spools, probably in Ruth McDowell class.  I try to take photos of what it is like in a classroom.  Students bring huge amounts of fabric - suitcases, boxes, bags, even rolling plastic drawer units.  And, of course, sewing machines, chairs, ironing "tables", every imaginable gadget and boxes of thread.  As the years have gone by I take less and less and leave my machine in the car in case I ever get to the sewing part, which I usually don't.   The classes I take are usually more about the design and fabric selection.  Here are some more fabric piles from Empty Spools, these are from 2012!

This student knew what she was going to create and was also very tidy and organized.  She limited the amount of each fabric.  There is an onsite shop provided by the Cotton Patch in Lafayette CA., so one can always do a quick shopping trip!

 
Maybe an ocean subject?

 
Could be snowy mountains?

 
Undecided, but lots of yellow - sunflowers?

 
Perhaps a field of poppies?

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Organizing 01-26-23

I desperately need to re-roll and re-organize the 370+ quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.  Some are small and live in acid free storage boxes, about a half dozen are 3-D and have their own storage box, and the majority are rolled around stuffies or covered pool noodles, covered with fabric and stored on shelves.  My friend Liz and I have tried to develop a storage order, but nothing we have tried has been successful.  The extra bedroom is honestly full of junk that I keep thinking I can donate somewhere and put all the quilts in the same room.  It is a massive undertaking that I have not had the strength or concentration  to do in the past year or two.  The fabric coverings are all discounted fabrics from years ago - all different prints of all different colors.  We use what fits.  It suddenly occurred to me, after all these years, that it would be helpful if multiple quilts by one artist were wrapped in the same fabric covering!  Brilliant.  So, when I was in SDiego at Rosie's Calico Quilt Shop a few weeks ago I looked through their sale fabric for a bolt with 15 or so yards to use for all the Ruth B. McDowell quilts, some of which are very large.  What was I looking for beside quantity?  Not dark, not red or black or white, unlike any of the covers I already have, and inexpensive.  Some of the fabrics I use came from years ago when discounted fabric was $1 or $2 a yard!   I found this print for $7 a yard and it fits the bill on all counts including 15.88yards on the bolt.  This picture is the width of the fabric on end and it is slightly more aqua than the computer will let me show.  Loops of fabric flags seem appropriate for Ruth's quilts.  So, I need to get busy and start this major project.  First to clean out the room, there are things that have been in there since moving into this house more than 30 years ago.  What will I do with my mother's cedar chest?  And what ever is inside of it?  And there are boxes of photos and boxes of unknown things.  Oh, dear, I'm tired just thinking about it!    Onward.  

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Friday Food + Showing TCQC quilts 04-22-22

Breakfast at a restaurant always seems luxurious to me!  I don't understand why, maybe because my family never went out for that meal.  When my sister and I traveled by train in the late 40s from Portland, OR, to Los Angeles going to the dining car and having fresh squeezed orange juice  and silver covers on our plates was just too sophisticated for words.  When I was in San Diego this last  Monday/Tuesday I had breakfast at Farmer's Bottega with my friend Andrea.  We ate on their charming patio and the benedict was delicious along with tasty fresh fruit.   But it set me up for another visit to Toast in Brea on Thursday with friend Carol.  Their benedict is the best, this time with avocado.  I was much too busy eating to take pictures.

 

I was in San Diego to do a program for Canyon Quilters, showing quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection (TCQC).  It had been about three years since I did a program due to Covid and I worried that I wouldn't remember how to do it!  My friend Liz, who has helped me since I started doing presentations, is ill and unable to help.  I was really exhausted from getting the quilts down, "packaging" them for transporting, and then setting up at the meeting.  But the members pitched in to help and all went well.  I did remember how to do it!   I tried to take quilts that I didn't show when I visited the guild in June of 2014, but there are some that are just too interesting to leave out.  Ruth B. McDowell's "A Rash of Flamingos" came to me after the original owner died and her heirs contacted Ruth about it.  I feel so fortunate that I could add this treasure to the Collection.  It is a prime example of Ruth's masterful machine piecing and amazing eye for fabric selection.   One of the members took this picture of me in front of Flamingos. 

 

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TCQC quilts at Surfside QGuild 12-12-19

On Tuesday morning I presented a program at the meeting of Surfside Quilters Guild in San Clemente, CA, showing some of the quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection. The Collection contains about 365 quilts, but, of course, I could only show about 35 in the hour of the program.  When the guild started in 2009 I did the first program and a subsequent one in 2011, so I tried to only show quilts that weren't in either of those programs.  The members seemed to enjoy the presentation, it is always exciting to see a quilt "in the fabric" made by one of the "stars" in our quilting world.

On the stage to the left are "Rialto Tree" by Denise Oyama Miller and "Eleven 3 Thirteen" by Marianne Burr (which is all hand appliqued and quilted).  And on the right is Ruth B. McDowell's quilt "A Rash of Flamingos" (one of the larger quilts in the Collection at 100"W and 52"L).  

If any of you have pictures you took at the meeting I would enjoy having copies of them.  Can't give a program and take pictures at the same time!  

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Re-visiting a Ruth McDowell quilt from 2004 09-08-19

It has been 15 years since Ruth made this quilt.  She designed it from a picture she took at the Pacific Grove, CA, "Good Old Days" event.  It is a powerful illustration of Ruth's ability to use straight seam piecing to create body shapes and express personality.  

"The Street Corner"  Ruth B. McDowell - Massachusetts  2004  55"W x 41"L  

Commercial and hand-dyed cottons, cotton batting, cotton thread. 

Machine pieced and quilted.  

The central figure, a cutie in a blue striped drop shoulder shirt, has attracted a half dozen young guys.  A couple of the guys have turned away from the "honey'" - one on the right to see what else is going on and the one on the far left to (a) drink a coke or (b) talk on his cell phone.  [Were cell phones all that common in 15 years ago?]   Meanwhile cutie's friend is somewhat a wallflower standing half concealed off to the left of the frame with her blue shoulder bag held close.  Notice the different body attitudes - slumped shoulders, cutie's perky hips, hands in pockets, etc.  How does Ruth give all these expressions with straight seams?  She is just an amazing artist and a very precise piecer. . 

All of the Ruth McDowell quilts in TCQC will be shown in a three month exhibit at Visions Art Museum in San Diego, January through March 2020.  Hope you can make a visit during that time.  

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Ruth McDowell is still making quilts 06-29-19

Here is her latest, fresh off the sewing machine.   It is a most tranquil view of a very old barn near her place in Massachusetts.  The barn has been maintained for over a hundred years with several additions made during that time.  

"Hill Town Farm"  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  2019   36”L x 62” W

Machine pieced, machine quilted, cottons, cotton batting, tiny bit of colored pencil

$5600

DETAIL  "Hill Town Farm"  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  2019 

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A phone visit with Ruth McDowell 03-31-19

Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA

I don't know when this picture was taken, probably ten years ago.  We talk on the phone now and then and today we had a nice visit, talking about quilts, fabric selection, what we are working on right now, what is happening with people we know in common, and, well, just stuff.  The temperature in Colrain was about 40F and in Placentia 84F.   Of course, we are about 3000 miles apart, but it seems so …. drastic!  

One thing we briefly discussed is an exhibit of her work at Visions Art Museum in San Diego, planned for January - March 2020.  It will be quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection and, possibly, some new quilts by Ruth.  It is all very tenuous right now, but it will happen.   I'll keep you updated

I'm still struggling with the new laptop.  I will get help soon so that I can get back to posting current images. 

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More pictures from "People and Critters" 03-15-19

Here are a few more of the 39 quilts that are currently in an exhibit "People and Critters" at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, CA.  The quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection will hang until May 8th, through the entire run of the Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar Conference Grounds.  

World Quilters  Cynthia St. Charles  - Billings, Montana  2011  12"X12"

Jane Goodall - Portrait Study   Mary Pal - Toronto, Ontario, Canada   2011  12"X12"

Fort Morrison Jerseys  Ruth B. McDowell  - Colrain, MA  2003  65.5"WX45"L

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Heading north in the morning - I hope

I'll be driving north on I-5 tomorrow, hope the weather will be clear and sunny.  I'll stay the night with Mary Leakey in San Juan Bautista, take the quilts to Back Porch on Thursday, and help hang them.  Maybe lunch at one of my favorite spots.  And, of course, I will support the economy while I am at Back Porch! 

I cannot work out how to use this new laptop.  I do have some pictures from the past, but they seem to be in no order and there are no captions!   This new computer stuff is HARD.  Also, my cursor keeps jumping back into previous paragraphs, so I can't type very fast while I am watching every word I type.  Woe is I!  

I tried to find a picture of something that will be at Back Porch and the only one I could find is Ruth McDowell's  "Fort Morrison Jerseys".  It is one of the "critter" quilts.

She made this quilt in 2003 and it is 65.5" wide X 45" long.  Like all of her quilts it is completely machine pieced and machine quilted.  A quilter who is married to a cow farmer said her husband was impressed that Ruth got all the stanchions correct.  Most of us just want to pet the cow's necks - but no touching allowed!  

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Quilt by Ruth B. McDowell 02-10-19

Fort Morrison Jerseys  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  2003  65.5"W x 46"L

Cotton fabrics, batting and thread.  Machine pieced and quilted.

One of the wonderful Ruth McDowell quilts in TCQC which I posted on this blog in 2009.
http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2009/10/ruth-mcdowell-quilt-from-tcqc-10-04-09.html

It will be part of an exhibit titled 
"People and Critters: Quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection" 
at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, CA, from March 6 through May 8, 2019.
So, if you are going to Empty Spools Seminars you will get a chance to visit the shop and see all these quilts.  Or, if you are just visiting, be sure to stop by and enjoy the show.

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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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Revisiting a fabulous Ruth B. McDowell chicken quilt 11-04-18

Ruth B. McDowell "Red Hen" posted 07-11-11

I just completely ran out of steam last evening and had to go to bed early - before I posted to my Blog.  Sorry.  This is one of four of Ruth's chicken quilts in TCQC - she likes chickens, I like chickens.  I purchased this from Ruth at Asilomar in 2010.   

"The Red Hen"  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA  2010  17" x 20"

Cotton fabrics, batting, thread.  Machine pieced and quilted.
http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/

What a great eye!  I think it is from a Kaffe Fassett fabric.  The feather over her head adds a whimsical touch and notice the rust w/irregular white pattern on the back of the neck - a calico!  It was probably in Ruth's fabric library for thirty years.

Great feet!  Another of Ruth's chicken quilts has two hens

 - one with these blue feet and the other with purple. 

Ruth has such a great eye for fabrics and uses mostly commercial prints.  but she will also include batiks, hand dyes, furnishing fabrics.... whatever works in the design. 

I appreciate the hand written label - always distinctive. 

And the great backing fabric.  This is a quilt that I will sometimes hang backward for a few days, just to enjoy this awesome fabric, which is enhanced by the red quilting thread.

 

Ruth's quilting lines always add to the image - here with feathers and in the lower left her original version of "Methodist Fan" motif. 

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11-05-18    I missed posting this in time so the date is indeed Sunday's date, but it is 12:30am on the Oct 5th.  This is probably my favorite of Ruth's chicken quilts in TCQC.  I hang it front side out most of the time, but also flip it for a few days to enjoy the back view of the quilting and this great Marimekko fabric. 

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Blogging 07-21-18

I have been blogging since 08-18-07.  Seems like a long time.  Occasionally I look at the statistics that blogger keeps on my blog, but I have never understood them.  Every now and then there will be a spike of astonishing proportions.  Such as 831 page views in one hour!  Not likely.  And currently the greatest audience is in Germany!  Not likely.   The most visited page is the one about Ruth B. McDowell's quilt "A Rash of Flamingoes" on 12-23-13.  That is possible, it is a fabulous piece of art.   My blog doesn't have a wide audience or a frequent one, usually only about 100 people check in each day, and I appreciate every one of them.  Comments are rare, but very appreciated, sometimes one wonders if there is anyone out there listening. 

I read several blogs regularly and others that I catch up on when I have some extra time.

 Kay Sorenson  quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com is a super blogger who keeps up with the statistics and enjoys hundreds of visits each day.  She leads a very interesting and varied life in Wisconsin and Florida. Kay makes spectacular quilts and is a very nice lady.  When I was driving cross country once I took a detour up to Wisconsin, because it was one of only two states I had not visited (Alaska is still missing).  I called her and she took me out to dinner and showed me her studio and some of her great quilts.  It is a precious memory. 

Terry Grant  http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/   She has been busy with life and hasn't blogged for a few months, but I know she is okay, just busy.  I had the chance to see her when I drove through Portland, OR, in May on my trip to Washington.  

Melody Johnson  fibermania.blogspot.com  leads an amazing life with more projects than I could handle in a decade.  She is always interesting.  

Martha Ginn  http://marthaginn.blogspot.com/   Is a very productive quiltmaker and shares her talent and ideas on her blog.  She started blogging the same month/year that I did.  

The interest in blogging has diminished, but there are still millions out there that cover, I'm sure, every topic under the sun.  So many blogs, so little time!  

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Looking back twelve years 06-28-18

I had an appointment with the dental hygienist today and around the office the Agapanthus (common name is Lily of the Nile) are blooming their heads off.   It made me remember a previous year when I took the time to photograph all the stages of bloom.  When I came home I looked in my picture files and found that I had taken those images the exact same day as today!  It was June 28, 2006.  Hard to believe it has been twelve years!   Somewhere I have an image of a jacaranda tree in bloom with blooming agapanthus all around the base, it is like a tree in a pool of blue.    Can't find it now.  

At the top left you can see some of the green oval seed pods that follow the blossoms. 

The flower on the left has started to deteriorate , to be followed by the buds behind it. 

An enlargement of one single bloom - only about 3/4" in diameter.  

The full flowers fill in where the old ones are dying. 

As you can see, the bees also like them.  

I was so impressed with the shadows.

They make me think of doing a Hawaiian style applique with them.  I suppose there is already a pattern somewhere.  

Here would be the border. 

I looked online for a picture of Ruth McDowell's "Lily of the Nile" quilt, but no luck.  I did come across this nice video of some of her quilts.

http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4d7a63324f4467354d6a6b3d0d0a?title=Ruth+McDowell&image=4d7a63324f4467354d6a6b3d0d0a.jpg

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Two nights in San Luis Obispo 06-11-18

Liz and I drove up yesterday to do a program tonight about the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection for the San Luis Obispo Quilters.  There seemed to be about 60 members in attendance.  They are preparing for their quilt show June 23-24 at the Madonna Conference Center at the Madonna Inn.  This is a show presented by six area quilt guilds and will show about 300 quilts.  And all the usual quilt show features.   It is a show I have always wanted to attend, but the timing is never right and I can't drive up here again in a few weeks.  Bummer. 

The program went well and they especially enjoyed Ruth McDowell's "A Rash of Flamingoes"  and Mary Lou Weidman's "Asilomar"  quilts.  They were hanging on quilt racks so the ladies were able to take a really good look at them.  

" Rash of Flamingoes"  Ruth B. McDowell  2000  100"W X 52" L

"Asilomar"  Mary Lou Weidman  2013  77"W X 88"L

(This is the only picture I can find in my Picasa files, it was taken in 2015 when Mary Lou did a workshop for Surfside Quilters Guild.)

On the road home tomorrow, hopefully no more than a four hour drive.  I'll drop Liz off at her house and go on down the I-5 to San Clemente to pick up Koko.  That will make it another two hours minimum on the road.  Good thing I enjoy driving, eh?

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Re-visiting a Ruth B. McDowell quilt 05-13-18

Now that the Jacaranda trees are blooming I thought you might enjoy seeing Ruth McDowell's version of a Jacaranda tree again.  

I post this quilt every year about this time.  See:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3236658054810119404#editor/target=post;postID=6632930992216346564;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=9;src=postname

"Jacaranda Tree"  Ruth B. McDowell - Colrain, MA 1996  45"W x 39"L

Machine pieced and quilted on a home machine. 

Cotton fabrics, batting, and thread. 

A full grown Jacaranda in my neighborhood in Placentia, CA.

 

And, in case you haven't seen the trees up close, here is a close up of the blossoms.  

Del's Quilts Ghost Gums 12-27-17

Here is another Del quilt.  This one was created in an Empty Spools Seminars Ruth McDowell class in 2005.  One of about half a dozen or so quilts from her classes that I have actually finished and quilted.  I have quite a few finished tops that I have never had the nerve to quilt.  The top picture (the full quilt) is on a background of ecru because it is so narrow I think it needs the background wall showing.   This one belongs to a collector in Pacific Grove, CA. 

 

"Ghost Gums"  Del Thomas 2005  10"W x 50"L

Cotton fabrics, thread, batting.  Pieced and quilted by home machine.

Ghost Gums are the tall light colored trunks of certain species of eucalyptus trees.  In the wild they tower up above the surrounding shorter trees and glow in the moonlight.

"Ghost Gums" DETAIL  Del Thomas 2005  10"W x 50"L

These oak and maple leaves would not be under a gum tree, just consider them dirt and leaves - it is the texture I was going for.

 

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Re-visit a Ruth McDowell quilt from TCQC 10-01-17

This quilt was on my blog on 09-06-15.  It is so much a Ruth quilt and so bright and happy.  Not Canadian Geese, but seeing them fly over reminded me to hang this quilt to enjoy during the Fall.

 

 

In taking classes with Ruth over the years I tried hard to learn how she selects the fabrics for each piece, but, although I learned a lot, I think one has to be born with an "eye" like hers.  Who else would chose that glorious, bright circle fabric for a border?  It works.

 

Ruth has the ability to make her pieced animals and people look realistic whether she uses straight or curved piecing.

She invents her quilting design as she works.

 

Her signature is on the front....

...and on the label on the back.  She gives the necessary information: Title, name of maker, date, and a way to contact her.  Which is a good thing for me because people who are looking for buyers of Ruth's quilts that she sold long ago call her and she gives me a call.  I have added four of her wonderful early quilts this way. 

She always has interesting backs - this one is elegant.

 

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