Baltimore Album Appliqué
Susan T. Franklin, PhD
June 5th, 2017
Every experience
deeply felt in life needs to be passed along.
Whether it be through words and music, chiseled in stone, painted with a
brush, or sewn with a needle. It is a way
of reaching for immortality. Thomas
Jefferson.
I’m happy to
share with you my passion for Baltimore Album appliqué. First, about the quote I read by Thomas
Jefferson. I discovered this on a quilt block
made by Marylou McDonald, a noted Baltimore Album authority and teacher. I loved it and have since incorporated it for
other presentations and someday, will on my work. Meanwhile, consider a couple phrases, “sewn
with a needle” and “way of reaching for mortality.” Isn’t that what we’re about?
Today, we’ll
learn more about quilts, sewn with a needle, made by mostly middle and
upper-class women. These quilts
represented their best work; perhaps their masterpieces. In some instances the quilt makers are noted;
other times they are not. Regardless,
these beauties are a testament to the skill and lasting endurance of the
talents of their makers.
Later, I’ll
have reproduction examples of Baltimore appliqué wall hangings and a quilt. Now, for the rest of the story! To set the stage for this period, let’s briefly
look at two broad categories: technology and culture and how they
intermingle.
1830…Block printing of
fabric was rarely used; instead fabric was printed with an engraved copper
cylinder, using a separate cylinder for each color.
1830-40 …A myriad of
fabric choices was available. New
England textile mills produced millions of yards annually.
1830-40…Rapid railroad
expansion meant more fabrics were quickly available to more distant places.
1840s…Baltimore was a
prosperous port town, on the brink of full industrialization
1844…John Mercer
introduced “mercerizing,” aimed at increasing the strength of cotton and aiding
its ability to accept dye.
1844…Elias Howe
invented the sewing machine.
1849…Walter Hunt invented
safety pins.
1850…12 year old
Margaret Knight had an idea for a device to “stop motion” of machinery in
textile mills-thus preventing injury.
Incredibly, one of her inventions, a machine to make flat bottomed bags,
still is in use today.
1850…Turkey red solidly
is in use.
1851…Singer Sewing
Machine Company is founded…time payments made machines affordable to anyone
with a steady income; sewing machines
freed women from the tedious work of sewing and allowed time for handwork creativity.
1856…The discovery of
aniline (aniline = indigo plant) dyes increased the range of colors available
for weaving and printing of textiles (Kiracofe).
Productivity
increased on the farm.
1831…Cyrus McCormick
invented the reaping machine, able to cut 10 -12 acres, rather than one acre by
hand.
1837…John Deere
invented the steel plow.
Comfort also increased
in the home.
2nd quarter of the 19th
century.
·
Steam radiators, ice machines, new stoves, and lamps became available.
·
There was more delineation between the city and the country.
·
Quilt designs took longer to get to the country.
Appliqué quilts and
their story
Late 18th
century and early 19th century
Medallion
quilts were popular and done with chintz appliqué. A dominant central design was framed by
smaller appliquéd pieces. The technique
used was Broderie Perse (Persian Embroidery) and was done with chintz fabric
imported from England until about 1840. We
discussed that in a previous continuing education program.
Mid-19th
Century Appliqué quilts
Robert Shaw
refers to the period 1840 -1860 as the Golden
Age of Appliqué. Appliqué quilts increased in popularity
in the 1840s per Elizabeth Warren, curator of the American Folk Art Museum in New York for four reasons:
1.
“Fashion” for album quilts…made with a variety of techniques…
conventional, cut out chintz appliqué, piecing, or embroidery. However, piecing is rare to find in an album
quilt.
2.
Increased availability of relatively inexpensive fabric by
mid-century; quilters found the fabric better for conventional appliqué than
chintz. Chintz prints had a limited
number of repeats that could be used; thus not as useful for appliqué. Also, quilters began to prefer blocks over
medallions for their quilts.
3.
Adoption of quilt-making tradition of their English American neighbors
by Pennsylvania Germans. Previously,
they slept under heavy home woven ticks filled with straw and feathers. Circa 1830, quilters began incorporating
German motifs such as rosettes, flowers in pots, birds, lilies, and tulips into
their quilts.
4.
Red and green are popular in
much Pennsylvania German folk art. This
enjoyment transferred into a traditional appliqué color choice
Fabrics used
Ombre’
prints, rainbow effects (fondue/fondu = to dissolve or melt) very popular
during the period of 1830 – 1850, were used to create the illusion of dimension. Also, all over prints (vermiculates), Turkey
red prints or solids (pinks, chrome yellow and cheddar), and many novelty
prints were available (Trestain, p. 44).
Wool and velvet were occasionally incorporated. Both European and U.S. block and roller
printed fabrics were used. The makers
employed wide selections of fabrics to create variety and dimension in their
work (Kiracofe, p. 92).
Techniques
Just like
quilters today, those of the mid-19th century employed a variety of
techniques. These include Broderie perse
with cut out chintz appliqué, paper templates for appliqué, cross stitch,
overcast embroidery, traditional and reverse appliqué, layered appliqué,
ruching, cording, stuffed work (trupunto),interwoven strips, inking, outline
embroidery with wool, and beading (steel beads).
Appliqué
with white thread and sometimes thread to match pieces, was the norm. The appliqué usually was done with invisible
stitches, but sometimes blanket, buttonhole, chain, or other obvious stitches
were used to attach the pieces to the background.
Cutwork,
patterns made like paper snowflakes, also happened. Do you remember making them or dancing dolls
as a child?
Popular Motifs
Wreaths,
oak and laurel, oak reel, stylized floral designs, roses (one of the most
popular), were frequent design elements.
I’ll have more examples when I discuss Baltimore Album quilts. Borders
with either appliquéd swags or pieced works were common.
Quilting
The quilts
were mostly hand quilted; machine quilting was very unusual. However, a quilt, circa 1860, in the collection
of the State Historical Society of Iowa is machine quilted. Was it done later? (The
Quilt, p. 214) We’ll never know. We do know that when a woman had a sewing
machine, she was proud to use it and
show the stitches.
Quilting Designs
1840s – 1870s (Kinney p. 47)
·
Simple motifs, filler patterns of closely stitched diagonal parallel
lines, cross hatch, or double or triple lines of quilting.
·
Alternate blocks… simple or ornate patterns, sometimes the outline of
a Baltimore Album pattern.
·
Elaborate appliqué… hearts, flowers, prince or princess feathers with
variations.
·
Desire to add symbolism, sentiment, superstition, and fill all spaces.
·
Inspiration from all sources especially nature, particularly with
flowers. Background grid added emphasis
to botanical shapes.
·
Elaborate quilting in alternate blocks using combination of elements
just mentioned.
General Information
The blocks
were usually large, about 18” with the smallest being about 12.” Some blocks were separated by sashing. Some quilts had borders; others did not. Some were fringed. Most bed quilts didn’t have a cut out for a
four poster. This was a change from
earlier periods.
Sampler quilts
included non repeating blocks…Baltimore Album quilts were first identified by
Dr. William Rush Dunton, early in the 20th century.
Dr. Dunton
was affiliated with a psychiatric hospital in Baltimore. While looking for a craft project for his
“nervous” ladies, he stumbled on some old quilts and subsequently Baltimore
Album quilts and blocks. In 1946, he
published Old Quilts.
A Baltimore
Album quilt is defined as one made by someone living in Baltimore during the
period 1846-1854. Its height of popularity was in 1850. Robert Shaw notes that the best of these have
long been considered to “represent a pinnacle of American quilt-making
technique and design sophistication.”
The designs
were similar to those on other media of the 1840s such as theorem paintings,
samplers, transfer printed ceramics and illustrations. There also were similarities to earlier
printed fabrics. Also, Baltimore Album
quilts contained specific pictorial images of urban Baltimore life…ships,
churches, people, monuments, and military heroes that were presented in a rigid
and segmented form (Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition, p. 16).
Many were made
for Methodist ministers who were given new assignments every two years. Also, some were made for other men, possibly those
who served in the Mexican war or for other patriotic reasons. It’s common to find names, dates, and other
inscriptions on quilt blocks. Inking was
common. Sashing usually was not used,
although it’s present on some quilts.
Unfortunately,
none of us have a Baltimore Album quilt, although at least two exist in Arizona
(Grand Endeavors). The best available today would be a
reproduction. Some of you may have seen
an article in the American Quilter,
January 2010, by Janet Esch and titled “Tracing History.” In it, Janet describes how Marylou McDonald,
Margo Cramer, and Eleanor Layman, without payment, spend hundreds of hours
tracing these antique treasures housed in museums. My reproduction examples are from quilts in
the Lovely Lane Museum in Baltimore.
First, I
have a quilt with the following blocks:
From the Elizabeth MacCullough
Hervey quilt (circa 1848-52) Red Basket with Squared Bottoms, Blue Floral
Urn, Overflowing Fruit Basket with Exotic Birds, Kind Lucy, a Frigate, and the Hunter. My other completed examples are wall hangings. One is a Cornucopia
block from the Reverend Hezekiah Best
quilt, circa 1846-1847. The quilt was given to Reverend Best when he
left the interdenominational Seman’s Bethel Mission. He served as Chaplain from 1844-1847.
The other
is an Eagle from the Captain Russell
quilt. Captain Russell was presented his quilt for excellent seamanship during a
violent storm on the Chesapeake in 1852. These are examples of elaborate, high
style design. The Eagle block I finished
in January, 2015. Guess when it was
started? In 2007!
A year ago,
I completed a block from a newly discovered album quilt, The Gold Rush quilt. Incredibly, I was attending a Baltimore Album
workshop at Cactus Quilts when the original owner came to the shop with the
quilt. Marylou McDonald, Nancy Landon
and the students were in awe; the owner was bored! The quilt, now housed in Winterthur Museum,
had the pattern carefully traced by Marylou and her team. My block is “Oh Susanna, don’t you cry for
me.” I recently started a basket block
from that quilt. My goal is to make 4-6
blocks.
Another
type of sampler quilt, but not a Baltimore Album quilt is an album quilt made
by an individual or a group, not
living in Baltimore, but living anywhere from the East coast to the Mississippi
between 1840 -1860. The movement began in Pennsylvania and Maryland. In an
album quilt, the motifs in each block are different, but with enough in common
that they work well stylistically.
Generally, a group album quilt would be coordinated by someone to ensure
the blocks would complement each other.
These
quilts are part of the sampler tradition as the block motifs usually don’t
repeat. The quilt style is a
continuation of the autograph album so popular in the early part of the 19th
century especially with the middle and upper-class. Often, the quilts had a decorative outer
border, usually a trailing vine or floral wreath, but occasionally pieced
blocks were used.
One example
of an album quilt includes the Bird of Paradise quilt top (housed in
the American Folk Art Museum in New
York). The top, made in the mid-19th
century, was found with newsprint and paper templates that dated from
1858-1863. These included a bride and
groom. The finished top omits a groom; instead leaves and vines are substituted
on block two, next to the bride. It’s
theorized to be a wedding quilt due to the numerous indicators of fertility
(fruit, pairs of birds, animals, eggs in a nest). Perhaps the bridegroom to be was killed in
the Civil War.
This famous
quilt, altered slightly, also is known as the Civil War Bride quilt (Australian version), the Lost Boy quilt (traced from the original
Bird of Paradise top), and an adaptation by Karen Mowery published in A Bountiful Life.
My Civil War Bride reproduction includes a four
block un-quilted wall hanging: The Apple Stem,
Bride, Two Peacocks, and Peacock. It will be hand quilted eventually. I have one more block, but decided not to use
it as I’d have to make a sixth to make it workJ
Closing
We’ve
covered much this morning. We noted the
rapid technological and cultural changes of the first half of the 19th
century. Some enabled women,
particularly from the middle and upper-class, to indulge in the creativity of
handwork. They made their best quilts;
their masterpieces.
They
appliquéd with a myriad of wonderful fabric choices, used an array of
techniques, and created outstanding quilts.
These women very aptly demonstrated that “sewn with a needle” is indeed
a way of “reaching for immortality.”
Thanks for
your attention. Now, what questions or
comments do you have?
