Today's Quilter - UK (2019-07)

77

OLD TRADITIONS l b a lt i m o r e a l b u m qu ilt s

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SHIRLEY BLOOMFIELD SHARES

HER TIPS FOR MAKING MODERN-DAY

BALTIMORE-STYLE PROJECTS

1

BaltimoreAlbumquilt-makerscreatedstriking

eectswiththelimitedmaterialsavailabletothem,

butwearefortunatetohavea wealthof fabricsat our

fingertips.Shirleyuses100%cottonsforherappliqué

motifs and backgrounds – batiks are her favourite.

2

Byfussycutting(ie,selectinga specificareatocut

out),Shirleycantakeadvantageof thebatikprints

toachievewonderfullyrealisticshadingonleavesand

petals.Todothis,firstcutoutyourtemplatesfrom

freezerpaper,leavinga viewing‘window’.Withthe

fabricrightsideup,usethewindowtochoosewhere to

positionyourtemplate;eg,fora leaf,trytofind

anareathatwillgivetheeectof a centralvein

(Fig 1 ). Onceyouarehappy,withtheshinyside

down,replacethetemplateinthewindowandpress

the template onto the right side of the fabric. Then cut

Fig 1 Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

out,addinga seamallowance(Fig 2 ). Asbatiksfray

verylittle,a smallerseamallowancethanusualcanbe

used,whichis easierto turn under when appliquéing

the motif in place.

3

OriginalBaltimoresweregenerallystitched

withwhitecottonthread,althoughsometimes

colouredthreadwasused.Todaywehavehugerange

topickfromandShirley’spreferredthreadis YLI’s

100 -weightsilk.Usingt hist hreadwit ha size 11

milliners/strawneedleit is possibletoproducenear-

invisible stitches. Fine cotton threads also work well.

4

Mostof Shirley’sworkis hand-stitchedneedle-

turnedappliqué,asweremostof theearly

BaltimoreAlbumquilts.Inrecentyearsshehasused

fusiblewebtodevelopraw-edgemachine-stitched

appliquédesignsthatcanbesewninplacewitha small

openzigzagstitchora straightstitch.Using a silk top

thread gives a subtle eect(Fig 3 ).

5

Thedimensionaldetailsfeaturedonmanyoriginal

Baltimoresparticularlyappealedto Shirley,so

shehasdevelopeddimensionalelementsin herown

work.Ruchingis veryversatileandshehasadapted

thistechniqueto createprimroses,flowercentres,

chrysanthemumsandpeonies.Tomakeanopenpeony,

shetie-dyesa pieceof silk,whichruchesbeautifully and

gives the flower a glorious sheen(Fig 4 ).