Ruth B. McDowell
Artist - Fine Art Quilts

Solo Shows:

  • Ruth B. McDowell Special Exhibition,
  • East Bay Heritage Quilters Show, Oakland, CA, March 13-14, 2004
  • Pattern/Color/Quilts The Art of Ruth B. McDowell,
  • LaConner Quilt Museum, LaConner WA, Jan 19- Mar 18, 2001
  • Aftermath: The Quilts of Ruth B. McDowell,
  • San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, May 22 - July 11, 1999
  • Quilts of Ruth B. McDowell,
  • Vermont Quilt Festival, Northfield, VT, July 1997
  • Quilts by Ruth B. McDowell,
  • Museum of the American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY, Sept 21, 1996 - January 18, 1997
  • Ruth McDowell: Symmetry Quilts,
  • New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA, May 26 - July 12, 1994
  • Spring Quilt Market,
  • St. Louis, MO, April 28 - May 2, 1994
  • Ruth McDowell, Quiltmaker,
  • Hearts and Hands Quilt Festival, Tokyo, Japan, September 5-14, 1992, Osaka, February 1993
  • Tree of Life Quilts: Homage to Yggdrasill,
  • The Gallery on the Green, Lexington, MA, Nov. - Dec. 1990

Selected Invitational Group Exhibitions:

  • Quilts at Roundtop,
  • Roundtop Center for the Arts, Damariscotta Maine, Aug. 1-29, 2003
  • Wallflowers,
  • New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA, March - June 2003
  • Thirty Distinguished Quiltmakers Exhibition,
  • Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, January 24-30, 2002 245,092 attendance!
  • Quilts in Bloom,
  • Castle Gallery, Island of Mainau, Lake Constance, Germany, April - June 1999
  • Go Figure! Cloth Dolls and Figurative Quilts,
  • Cloth Dolls and Figurative Quilts, San Jose Museum of Quilts , San Jose, California, Nov 19-1998 - Jan 17-1999
  • Nihon Vogue Exhibition,
  • Tokyo, Japan, June 1998
  • Beyond the Borders: Seven Quiltmakers,
  • The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA, April - July 1992
  • Redefining the American Quilt,
  • Museum of Art, Penn State U, July 1987
  • The Art Quilt,
  • Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, 1986-1989 Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA, Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Colorado, Arnot Museum, Elmira, NY, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, Museum of the Southwest, Midland TX

Selected Juried Exhibitions:

  • Quilted Cuisine,
  • New England Quilt Museum, November 4, 2004- January 15, 2005
  • Crafts National 28,
  • Zoller Gallery, Penn. State University, June 5 - July 24, 1994
  • The Artist as Quiltmaker VI,
  • Oberlin, OH, May 14 - July 17, 1994
  • Contemporary Quilts USA,
  • USIA, 1990-1994,Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Luxembourg, Lithuania
  • Quilt National,
  • Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center, Athens, OH, 1989, 1987, 1985, 1983, 1981

Awards:

  • "All American Quilter" AQS, 2004
  • Selected among 100 Best American Quilts of the Twentieth Century:
  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses (1982), The Yellow Maple (1988)

Collections:

Museum of American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA; Southeast Psychiatric Hospital, Athens, OH; J.V.Fletcher Library, Westford, MA; Memorial Hall Library, Andover, MA; New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA; Ropes & Gray, Boston, MA; and in many other corporate and private collections

Teaching & Lecturing:

For groups and symposia in the New England states, AK, AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, South Africa, England, and Norway

Publications:

  • McDowell, Ruth B, A Fabric Journey, An Inside Look at the Quilts of Ruth B. McDowell
  • C&T Pub, 2005, ISBN 1-57120-279-X
  • McDowell, Ruth B, When Quilters Gather: 20 Patterns of Piecers at Play
  • C&T Pub, 2003, ISBN1-57120-212-9 | $27.95
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Pieced Vegetables
  • C&T, 2002, 128p.ISBN1-57120-140-8 | $27.95
  • Also available in French
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Pieced Flowers
  • C&T, 2000, 112p, ISBN1-57120-091-6 | $24.95
  • Also available in French and German
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Piecing: Expanding the Basics
  • C&T Publications, 1998, 160p, ISBN 1-57120-041-X | $27.95
  • Also available in French
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Pattern on Pattern
  • McGraw-Hill, 1991, ISBN 0-844226319 | $21.95
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Art & Inspirations: Ruth B. McDowell
  • C&T Pub, 1996, 144p, ISBN 1-57120-015-0 | Out of print
  • McDowell, Ruth B, Symmetry: A Design System for Quiltmakers
  • C&T Pub, 1994, ISBN 0-914881-78-7 | Out of print


  • C&T U.S. Orders (800)284-1114, International Orders (925)677-0377

    Other Books & Periodicals:

    Quilter's Newsletter Magazine 140, 144, 172, 180, 183, 217, 219, 221,222, 237, 259 Cover, 266, 284, 305, 315, 355; Lady's Circle Patchwork, Nov. 1985, Sept. 1991, New Zealand Quilter #1, Quilts Japan, Winter 1987, Spring 1987, No.9 1992; No.3 1993; Yankee, Nov. 1983, Dec. 1987; Quilting Today, No. 2; The American Quilter, Spring 1987, Summer 1993,Winter 1993; Spring 1997, Winter 1999, Fiberarts, Nov. 1983; Patchwork Quilts Tsushin, Japan, No.7; Quilt World, Feb/Mar 1990, Feb/Mar 1988, Boston Herald Sunday Magazine, June 28, 1987, Deutches Textilforum, March 1989, QuiltingInternational,#32, Nov 93, #37, #39; Vermont Life Magazine, Summer 1994; 88 Leaders in the Quilt World Today, 1995; The Complete Book of Machine Quilting, 2nd ed. 1994; Art Quilt Magazine, #3,1995; Quilts: A Living Tradition, 1995; The Art Quilt, 1997, Simply Quilts TV show #438, The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts, Boston Sunday Globe, Northwest, May 14, 2000, Quilting Masterclass, Good Housekeeping Do-It-Yourself Spring 2002, Norsk Quilteblad No.4/2003, and in numerous exhibition catalogs and quilting books

    Click here to read Ruth's artist's statement

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    ©2004 Ruth B. McDowell