Baltimore Album

I saw this quilt displayed over a mantel in a townhouse in NYC in House Beautiful several years ago. I had made many Baltimore Albums by then and found this one particularly attractive because of the large wreath surrounding the center basket.  If you look closely, you will see that the outside nosegays indicate what flower is highlighted in each corner of the wreath. The original maker must have wearied of the task before her because typically what is here would have been surrounded by more blocks to make it a bed size quilt. The size makes it a handy quilt to display when a bed size quilt is just too big. The blocks are pretty standard for Baltimore Albums but the planning of the design was especially pleasing to me so I drew out my own patterns from the picture in the magazine and made the quilt. I have highlighted a couple of the blocks on this page to show how fabric choices can make a difference.

I chose to consider these two birds as male and female of the species, with the male being the more flamboyant on the left. This is the block on the center left of the quilt.

 These two birds are the center of  the upper right corner wreaths. I placed the freezer paper on the fabric in such a way to utilize the design elements on the fabric.

This bird is the center of the upper left corner wreath. The tail feathers were fussy cut individually and embroidery elements were added after all of the applique was complete.