Today's Quilter - UK (2019-07)

75

When did you discover Baltimore

Album quilts and why did they appeal?

I first saw Baltimore-style quilts at a show in

Harrogate in 1992. They were so dierent

from the other exhibits, which were mainly

pieced. I loved the graphic and pictorial

appliqué, and also the designs, which were

mainly based on natural forms.

Are you interested in the history

of Baltimores?

Ye s , I a m. L uck i ly, qu ite a lot h a s b e e n

written about them – their makers and why

they made them. I have also been fortunate

to see many beautiful Baltimore Album

quilts first-hand during my teaching trips to

the USA. It’s fascinating to see how the style

evolved over a relatively short period and

then dropped out of favour until the revival

of interest in the 1970s. The Maryland

Historical Society (www.mdhs.org) and the

DAR Museum in Washington, DC (www.

dar.org) both have several fine pieces that

I have been able to examine in detail during

arranged visits. The Mary Simon Quilt

Top in the DAR Museum’s collections is a

beautiful example of how colourful these

quilts were when new. The top had been

stored and never used when acquired by

B

altimoreAlbumquiltsarea

uniqueandsophisticatedstyle

of regionalAlbumquiltfrom

Baltimorein theUnitedStates.Most

weremadebetween 1840 and1860.

Theeast-coastseaportof Baltimore

wasa majorpointof entryfor

Europeanimmigrantsandduring

the19thcenturyitspopulationgrew

rapidly.Thecityprosperedandit

wastheladiesof leisurefromthe

area’sauentfamilieswhomade

theelaboratequiltswenowknowas

BaltimoreAlbumquilts(Baltimores).

Likeothertypesof Albumquilts,

typically,notwoblocksin a Baltimore

areidenticalandtheyareusuallymade

byseveralpairsof hands.Aswith

otherAlbumquilts,manyBaltimores

weremadeas giftsforfamilyorfriends

to markspecialoccasions.Blocks

maybeinscribed,mostoftenwitha

signature,dateandlocation.Signed

quilts(alsoknownas Signaturequilts)

weresometimesmadeas fundraisers,

commonlyto raisemoneyforchurch

orotherlocalgroups.

Baltimores’complexappliquéd

motifsfeaturemanyfloraldesigns,

suchas baskets,wreathsand

cornucopia,butpatrioticandpolitical

symbolsarealsofound,as wellas

landmarksandmodesof transport.

Backgroundsareusuallywhiteor

o-white,withmotifsin bold,primary

colours.Similaritiesbetweenthe

motifshaveledto theproposalthat

thepatternsweredesignedbya small

groupandthensoldcommerciallyto

bemadebyothers.Baltimoreswere

madefromnewfabrics– localcloth

andmoreexpensiveimportedfabrics

wereavailableto thewealthy.

TheUK’sAmericanMuseum

& Gardensin Bathhasa coupleof

Baltimoresin itscollection(theyare

notalwaysonshow,socheckbefore

visiting).ButthisAugust,America’s

InternationalQuiltStudyCenter&

Museumis bringinga selectionof its

originalBaltimoresto TheFestivalof

Quilts– a rareopportunityto seethese

iconicquiltsupclose!(Fordetailssee

‘Furtherinformation’onpage76.)

Left,BaltimoreAlbum,Elizabeth

AnnGorsuch,c1840–1850,

Baltimore,Maryland,USA(IQSCM

2005.039.0001).Thisquiltwill

beonshowatTheFestivalof

Quiltsthissummer(see‘Further

information’onpage76)

Right,TheBaltimore

BrideQuilt,maker

unknown,c1842–1852,

122insquare.Asmany

ofthebestexamples

havesurvived,these

quiltsareoftenreferred

toasBaltimoreBrides’

Quilts.Thisfabulous

piecewasclearlymade

fora largedoublebed.

A numberoftheblocks

havebeensignedand

in onea poemhasbeen

inscribedin indelibleink

withthesignature‘Alice

A.Ryder,April1st,1847,

Baltimore,Md.’

SHIRLEY

BLOOMFIELD

TELLS US ABOUT

DEVELOPING AN

ENGLISH TWIST

ON BALTIMORES

COURTESY OF AND ©AMERICAN MUSEUM & GARDENS

COURTESY OF AND ©INTERNATIONAL QUILT STUDY CENTER & MUSEUM

Above, Mary Simon Revisited by Shirley

Bloomfield. This quilt was inspired by the Mary

Simon Quilt Top in the DAR Museum’s collections.

The original comprises 25 blocks, including floral

wreaths and openwork baskets. Shirley chose four

of the blocks to reinterpret with a modern twist