Ruth B. McDowell Selected for Induction
Celebration 2014 — July 17-19
McDowell’s Induction
ceremony and dinner will be held
July 19, 2014, 6:30pm
July 19, 2014, 6:30pm
at the Roseburg
Event Center in Marion, Indiana.
As the late 20th
century quilt-revival steamed its way into the 21st century, some
were predicting that the interest in quilting would begin to finally wane. There
goes one more negative prognostication down the drain! Quilting is alive and
well in the 21st century with another new movement under way — The
Modern Quilt Movement.
As we celebrate
this new wave of quilting interest, the accumulated documentable history of
this wonderful art and craft continues to grow as well. It is hard sometimes
for new aficionados of this field to grasp just how far the field of quilt history
has come since the founding of The Quilters Hall of Fame in Northern Virginia
in 1979 and the founding of the American Quilt Study Group in Northern California
in 1980.
One of the
purposes of The Quilters Hall of Fame is to celebrate quilting as an art form
by honoring the lives and accomplishments of those people who have made
outstanding contributions to the world of quilting and by collecting and
preserving and documenting materials related to those selected to be inducted
into The Quilters Hall of Fame. As this body of information grows, it is
fascinating to cross-reference the paths taken by each Inductee and the influences that
shaped each career and life.
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"Amaryllis" copyright 2014 Ruth B. McDowell
Our 45th
Honoree, Ruth B. McDowell of Colrain, Massachusetts, graduated from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967 with a B.S. in Art and Design.
Here is a young woman primed by education as well as natural proclivity to
respond to the world of design and color around her. What caused an
architectural student to steer her course toward quilting?
As chance would have it, among other influences of the times, it was another Honoree of the Hall of Fame’s work: Ruby Short McKim. After reading McKim’s 101 Patchwork Patterns in 1972, McDowell was particularly intrigued with McKim’s geometric renderings of flowers. She found them “ graphically interesting, botanically recognizable and straightforward to piece with traditional methods.”
As chance would have it, among other influences of the times, it was another Honoree of the Hall of Fame’s work: Ruby Short McKim. After reading McKim’s 101 Patchwork Patterns in 1972, McDowell was particularly intrigued with McKim’s geometric renderings of flowers. She found them “ graphically interesting, botanically recognizable and straightforward to piece with traditional methods.”
McDowell’s
interest in herbs predated her interest in quilts by many years and she was an
active member of the Herb Society of America. After making a few traditional
quilts — but still thinking about those geometric McKim designs and having been
recently motivated by a Nancy Crow workshop (another TQHF Inductee) — McDowell found herself wandering
around her herb garden with graph paper and pencil in hand, looking for the
perfect plant/leaf adaptable to graph paper.
Her eye considered rosemary and lavender and even lemon balm. Hmmm, none easily pieced or appliquéd. Then her eye fell on the lowly celandine (Cheliodonium major). (See page 18 of McDowell's book "Art & Inspirations" for a photo of this quilt.)
A sketch drawn, a
forty-inch square quilt, machine pieced with a single yellow flower appliquéd
in the center, emerged. “When it was finished, I felt certain this was the
beginning of what I was meant to do.” A series of herb quilts ensued.
It would be tempting to say at this point that “the rest is history”, but that robs us of the story of a colorful, creative, artistic life.
"In a 30-year career, as a self supporting professional artist, I have made around 530 quilts."
Her eye considered rosemary and lavender and even lemon balm. Hmmm, none easily pieced or appliquéd. Then her eye fell on the lowly celandine (Cheliodonium major). (See page 18 of McDowell's book "Art & Inspirations" for a photo of this quilt.)
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelidonium_majus
It would be tempting to say at this point that “the rest is history”, but that robs us of the story of a colorful, creative, artistic life.
"In a 30-year career, as a self supporting professional artist, I have made around 530 quilts."
The inspiration
for most of McDowell’s 530 quilts to date has come from nature. Her
artistic style has shown consistent development and her unique approach to
pieced quilts has inspired ten books. McDowell’s 1982 “Twelve Dancing
Princesses (Or The Shoes That Danced Themselves To Pieces)” and “The Yellow
Maple” (1988) — which won the Quilt National 1989 People's Choice Award — were included in the 20th Century’s Best American
Quilts, selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of the top foremost quilting experts of
the late 20th century from many different fields of quilting
expertise.
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"Yellow Birches - March " copyright 2013 Ruth B. McDowell
Since that first
quilt in 1972, McDowell has shared her exceptional design and teaching skills
all over the world and her award winning quilts are highly sought by
collectors. Her work has been exhibited in juried, invitational, and solo shows
nationally and in Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia.
McDowell wrote
her first book, Pattern on Pattern
(Quilt Digest Press) in 1991. Her 1996 book Art
and Inspirations: Ruth B. McDowell (C&T Publishing) was a retrospective
of Ruth’s career at that point and features full-color illustrations of 97 of
her quilts, many color details and drawings, and a fascinating text.
As Ruth
refined her understanding of both the designing and teaching of pieced quilts,
she rewrote and further expanded her best-selling book Ruth B. McDowell's Piecing Workshop and now offers on her web site several of her titles as print-on-demand and e-books.
Visit her site by clicking here to see many of her more recent quilts and some that are for
sale.
Please join us in Marion, Indiana, July 17-19, 2014 to celebrate and honor the art and career of Ruth B. McDowell.
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"Summer Visitors" copyright 2013 Ruth B. McDowell
Sources &
References
Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Vol. 17, No. 6, June 1986 (Issue #183,
pg. 8)
McDowell, Ruth B. Art & Inspirations. Lafayette, CA. C&T Publishing, 1996
Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Vol. 45, No. 2, April/May 2014 (Issue #439, pg. 24-27)
Fiber Art Now: Fiber Arts & Textile Magazine
http://valleyfiberlife.squarespace.com/imported-data/more-on-ruth-mcdowell-quilts.html
Click here to see more McDowell quilts - http://www.pinterest.com/hot4art/ruth-mcdowell-quilts/
Click here for Ruth B. McDowell website: http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/resume.html
