Baltimore Album quilts

FWIW - I did the Rose Sampler Supreme blocks (not exactly Baltimore, but similar sewing requirements) and I pre-quilted the blocks and hand appliqued onto the quilted surface. I now just need to trim to a standard size, zig-zag together, and stitch sashings over the joins.

One of my sewing ladies just made a quilt this way as a gift for her sister, and she found it much easier than trying to achieve perfect quilted pattern (in this case a grid in each block) across an entire quilt and around applique pieces. The end result - gorgeous!!

I recommended that R aim to make one block to see if she liked the technique she had chosen. That way, if she did like it she could make more blocks and create a quilt; if she didn't, she could make that block into a cushion and try something different without feeling that she had failed to complete her project. There are many techniques for doing applique and you might try several before you find your preferred method.

This way, the back of the quilt also looks evenly quilted, and I plan to do a completely different set of designs on the back of my blocks before I assemble them to make a reversible quilt.

Not exactly "traditional", but it works really well for me, and it makes the project very portable.

BTW - I also make all my applique pieces off the quilt. So to applique a bowl of roses, I make all the roses separately. I am then free to arrange them like real flowers, and if I am not happy with one flower or the placement of a stem, or even just the shading on one petal, I can change it and see what it will look like before stitching it onto the quilt. It means I put more time into preparation, but it makes the actual applique process very fast and easy, and my stitching can be even and near-invisible with minimal effort.

Hint - it is worth using silk thread and gold or platinum needles. I use a taupe colour for nearly all my hand applique. For basting pieces I use white machine embroidery rayon thread. It is fine and smooth, and slides through fabric without leaving any lint or hole (also cheap and easy to pull out! lol)

Never heard of this technic! Quilt first and applique second. Is it awkward to work on? Definitely something to mull over.

joan

Rasputin

catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau>

I find it a lot easier. You can see the results in my webshots -

I had a lot of quilters tell me it couldn't be done or that it wouldn't work, and for years I believed them. But the idea stuck in my head and I finally tried it. I wouldn't make a quilt from applique blocks any other way now.

I even have a HUGE piece of fabric I had quilted so I could applique a Jacobean Tree of Life on it (about 78" high). I was never very good at quilting so this way I can almost avoid all the things about quilt making I don't really like and just concentrate on the applique. The Tree will be made up in sections off the quilt and then basted in place and appliqued when I am happy with the final layout and colours. The fabric is already quilted and waiting for me to get to it over summer this year.

(see KS Quilt Layout) This Mardi Gras panel is also appliqued onto a quilted background. head was made up in three sections - hat, face and neck frill. The hat and neck frills were appliqued first, and the face was positioned over any unfinished edges last. It was actually very fast to make once I worked out the method. If I had appliqued onto fabric I would have had to quilt the diamond pattern in short lines between each applique piece. As it is the back of the panel has an even uninterupted quilt pattern all over it, so I am planning a single very large mask applique for it. So this too will be reversible.

year.http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/547991041vrfJMo?start=12> (see KS Quilt Layout)>

background.http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/418579537rLByOY?vhost=home-...> Each head was made up in three sections - hat, face and neck> frill. The hat and neck frills were appliqued first, and> the face was positioned over any unfinished edges last. It> was actually very fast to make once I worked out the method.> If I had appliqued onto fabric I would have had to quilt the> diamond pattern in short lines between each applique piece.> As it is the back of the panel has an even uninterupted> quilt pattern all over it, so I am planning a single very> large mask applique for it. So this too will be reversible.> --

Rasputin

catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau>

anne, i am currently working on an applique. each block is 18" square with a vase of either fruit, flowers, cactus, etc. working on the fruit right now. i wish i had seen your work first, this seems so much more organized. maybe i'll try that for the next block since i'm almost done with the fruit. then put them together. how would you connect them? with sashing or butted up against each other? amy

Oh, I've done it too, Joan. It is a wonderful way of doing things, because you can get such neat quilting without any stops and starts. I did a hanging diamond grid pattern and then appliquéd a quite complex outlined piece on top. I did hand appliqué, but there was no reason not to machine quilt it - I just felt I had more control. I had pre-turned all the edges, and it was even easier to sew to the pre-quilted piece, because the needle had somewhere to 'go'. The piece I was working on was about 20" square, so OK for holding. . In message , joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska writes

I made a mini Baltimore quilt.

blocks were only 6 inches square finished. I hand appliqued thenmachine quilted.

Amy - did you mean how would I join the pre-quilted blocks?

Last time I literally just butted the edges together and zig-zagged across the join. I made sashing to go over the joins, so you have to trim to the finished size of the block PLUS half the width of the sashing. Machine one side of the sashing, and slip stitch the other. Don't forget you have to do this on both the back and the front, so I do the machined lines of sewing on opposite sides of the join, so that when I sew the front sashing down it should be right on the stitching that attached the back sashing, and vise versa. But there are several methods that can be used. It's just like joining any quilt-as-you-go blocks.

Last one I did was 'bout 6 years ago ... I didn't design the patterns, I used Elly Sienkiewicz' patterns from her Baltimore Album book. Well I didn't use the patterns, per se ... I used the pattern pieces and changed the actual placement 'round a bit.

Colored paper and glue's a durn fine idea. I didn't do that unfortunately ... I cut the fabrics out and moved'em 'round as I did it (a lot of fabric got wasted, needless to say). :-)

I steamed them into place with my trusty iron and a "iron proof" piece o' acetate. Then, ever so carefully, I basted them in place with teeny, tiny dots (even SMALLER than dots) of wash-out glue (Elmers school glue). Then I just sewed them on.

I think the technique where you sew one side down first, then "fold it over" and then sew it down is better, though. I didn't know that one when I did mine. I had bias stems that were small enough that I could have just embroidered them ... 'bout 1/4 inch. I was too scared (and too overwhelmed) to go smaller'n that!! :-)

Google's not my friend today ... I can't find a link to that technique, though I KNOW I've seen it more often than I've seen my own feet. I'll try some more and post the links when I find'em (unless someone else beats me to it!).

I LOVE applique ... you can sit and let your brain go while watchin' tv. After a while, your fingers kind of .... run on autopilot. Well, mayhap not autopilot, but you get so used to what you're doin' that you can pay more mind to the boob tube than the applique itself. ;-)

I only have a few shows that I really like to watch (usually containin' fart humor or forensics - don't ask) and I rarely get to mind the tv. So doin' handwork like handquiltin' and applique are usually the only times that I really understand that I'm sittin' down! And not behind the wheel of my car! ;-)

I just did a wallhangin' for my first. After all that hand work, stuffin' a contrary pillow form in the back just seemed like too much work! :-)

'Sides, I love to hand quilt and wanted to get THERE as soon as possible!! ;-)

-- Connie :-)

I'm offering FREE patterns and a FREE eZine full of patterns, tips, techniques, and recipes!!

... just remove the obvious!)

Lots of applique, but not a traditional Baltimore album per se. I'm not from Baltimore and sticking to just red and green doesn't really thrill me either....

I'm finishing up a basket block of the month from forever ago...

(scroll down to Calendar Baskets). If you are thinking of adding dimensional applique (which is really fun) I really like the books by Irma Gail Hatcher. My favorite is Baltimore Style Blocks where you learn how to make several different flowers and such and then can arrange them any way you choose.

Dover books has some great books on flowers (not necessarily quilting ones) which translate well to applique designs.

I love, love, love the Clover brand bias tape makers. I can buy them at local quilt shops as well as Joann's so hopefully you will find some easily. No bulk from a seam yet the edges are turned under perfectly. The 1/4" size is a nice small size but if you want 1/8" stems (you didn't say how thin, thin is) Make a 1/4" stem then trim off one of the sides at the fold. Applique down the remaining folded side, open it up and trim back the seam allowance. Then needle turn under the second side for a nice teeny stem.

marcella

Do you machine or hand applique over the quilted surface? Debra in VA See my quilts at

I guess you could do either, but I like to hand applique. Having that "bulk" to stitch to makes it much easier.

In case you are wondering whether both work, I machine quilted mine. . In message , CATS writes

Hi Cheryl, thanks for this techniqu=E9 it sounds interesting. I'll give it a go next time I do an appliqu=E9 project.Elly

Hi Marcella, I use the bias tape makers too. So much easier. You can also use the narrow steam a seam fusible to put on the back to fuse it in place before you stitch. If your stems are narrower than the fusible strip just cut it up the middle. Elly

Rasputin

catsatararatATyahooDOTcomDOTau> :

i read somewhere, cant remember where...i must have been chocolate deprived that day....anyway....that the top layer of each block is sewn together (right sides together) on one side, after quilting, then turnover the two blocks and hand stitch the back seam, one side folded over the other, and keep going till the whole quilt is together. does that make any sense? i think i have a fever today...my head is fuzzy and i have such a bad head cold...sorry. amy

There are at least 4 or 5 ways that I know of to join the blocks. I just described the method I prefer. Some of the books on quilt-as-you-go describe mtheods for joining blocks.

It is possible - with careful marking - to machine both sides of the front sashing and one side of the back, and only have to hand sew one seam in four when attaching the covering sashing strips. But I like the added control I get from the method I described. Guess I am just a bit of a control freak rofl!

A rather think the desire to do a Baltimore type quilt sneaks up on a body. At first I was thinking of doing a simple applique sampler, but some of the blocks I once thought of using seem too simplistic now, so I'm thinking Baltimore style.

Mom is making one and I am planning one.

Neither of us like all the blocks in any set of patterns sold today. We find most of them either too formal or too primitive. So we started simply by gathering traditional Baltimore style patterns that we consistently liked from older pattern books, newspaper clippings grandma clipped, and magazines. Some of them we altered to suit ourselves, usually by making them slightly simpler or less formal looking. In other words we liked a block design except for some little thing so we removed or changed that thing to suit us. If we liked a block with a vase of flowers, but didn't like the vase itself, we changed the vase and kept the flowers. If we liked another similar block but didn't like the blooms, we changed the blooms. We have sometimes re-drawn a block to make sure the changes looked good, but sometimes skipped the drawing all together and jumped straight into making the templates.

Mom is waiting until the blocks are done before deciding on the border treatments because there are several possibilities she likes but she wants to see all the blocks together before deciding. I will probably plan mine before I finish making the blocks. You could make a whole colored paper and glue model if you wish, and plan the whole quilt at once if you would rather have a specific pattern to follow all along the way.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have bought one of Jeanna Kimball's pattern books because many of her blocks have the less formal, yet not primitive, look I like. Oddly, the ones I didn't like, Mom did.

Mom is doing her blocks with satin stitch applique, using store bought bias when she can and satin stitching the thinner stems and tendrils. I think it looks really good and may do the same. Although I have done one block design for a swap that I know I want on my quilt. I'm not really allowing myself to do more than plan right now because I have several other projects going on. I want to finish at least 2 projects before starting my Baltimore.

That depends on how intricate your chosen block patterns are, and how much machine applique you have done. Mom is fairly zooming through hers, but she has a lot of free time to sew at her machine too.

First choose the size you want your quilt blocks to be. Half way through the first block you might find you want that block to go into your quilt. It would be a shame if it wasn't the right size for the quilt. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Hi Anne, Jo Morton refers to Jeanna Kimball in her pattern book 'Prairie Flowers' and refers to Jeanna's technique of applique called back to front applique. I wondered if you have tried this method and what you think? I have tried a very small simple block and it seems okay for folk arty type applique where perhaps there aren't many difficult points to negotiate. I haven't any of Jeanna's books and wonder if it is fully described in the book you have. Elly

Anne Rogers

Not Anne, but..... There are some places where that technique is called "Backbasting" and there are a couple of good websites that have wonderful instructions. It is the best way I have found to do hand appliqué and get it precise, and with really sharp points where I need them. My fingers don't work with regular needle turn and before the way I did it was to baste under the edges of the appliqué piece and baste it in place, then stitch it down. With the backbasting method you only draw out the parts of the block once. You do everything else from that drawing, on the back of the background square. Nothing to slip or get out of position. Wonderful.

Pati, in Phx

Elly wrote: