New Block Finish and Book Sale

Between preparing samples and handouts for applique workshops, and working full time, it seems I hardly ever have time to stitch for myself. But I have finally finished stitching this block from Baltimore Garden Quilt in a new colorway, just for fun!


To celebrate, I’m offering SALE PRICES for my Baltimore Garden Quilt book. Check out the Store on my website for this book and others, plus some new patterns available.

 A favorite fabric is a great way to be inspired to applique -- this little warbler fabric has been in my stash for years, waiting for just the right project. The butterflies are cut from a more recent fabric I found in a local quilt shop, SpringWater Designs in Columbia, MD. (I will be teaching the Bluebird Wreath workshop there in July.)

In an earlier post about choosing fabrics for applique, I showed this little bird fabric that I wanted to feature, and some of the ‘first draft’ companion fabrics for this block. You can see, of course, most of them did not make the final cut.

Students always ask to see the back of my applique - here's a closeup back and front.

Aren’t we fortunate to have a multitude of beautiful fabrics available today? Here is the same block on the original 1848 quilt, on which the Baltimore Garden Quilt book and patterns are based. I can only hope to hand quilt my applique as beautifully as the original.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com
P.S. The bird fabric is "Bittersweet" by Moda. The butterfly is "Sue Schlaback of Wild Apple for Timeless Treasures.

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

 

Fabrics on the Antique Baltimore Garden Quilt

My friend Ady is planning her own Baltimore Garden Quilt. She plans to use her backbasting method, and she is not sure she has enough of the same green fabric that is "perfect for it." Not to worry! My fabric measurements in the book were generous. "Better to have too much than too little," I always say.

However, regarding "perfect for it" -- remember that in the 1840s, quilters "made do."  The quilter (or quilters) who made this antique quilt used several fabrics! You might not notice because they are the same color, but there are different prints. The variety of dyes and dying techniques were much more limited than today. In the book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, compare the green fabrics on pages 6 and 77 and the yellows on page 3 and 77. 

Today I had some time to play, and photographed some closeups for you all. Keep in mind this quilt is 164 years old. The greens have held their color well; the yellows, not so much, and the Turkey reds are disintegrating, some gone to almost pink.   I think it makes any quilt, old or new, much more interesting to vary the fabrics! Don't you?

Thanks Ady, for a great question!

 

 

The last photo shows what happens every time I bring the old girl out to play. :-(

We have to remember, she is 164 years old, and very fragile.