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Quilt History Tidbits - Baltimore Album Quilts

In the mid-1800s, along the Eastern seaboard, ladies began creating what have come to be known as "Album Quilts," the most famous of which are the Baltimore Album Quilts.  These exquisite quilts showcase the extraordinary needlework skills of their makers, often groups of women in Methodist and other church congregations.  The quilts were special commemorative works of art, created as gifts, especially for brides, grooms, departing church ministers and their wives, or young men turning age 21.  Some quilts were even created to memorialize those who had died, such as the quilt created by the family of Eli Lilly, owner of the famous pharmaceutical company. 

The album quilts were an example of a new art form, incorporating traditional blocks appliqued with incredibly detailed flowers, leaves, fruit, cornucopia, baskets, nautical emblems, symbols of local importance, boats, birds and animals.  Some quilts incorporated snowflake-like designs, a heritage of German settlers.  Rather than being made of scraps of fabric, as utilitarian quilts were, these special quilts were made of extra fine fabrics, often many different kinds, and designs were padded to give an illusion of three-dimensionality.  The quilts were often autographed by their makers and by those who had contributed patterns or fabric.

Quilt experts believe that many of the quilts were created from patterns developed by two or three experts in the art, including Mary Evans Ford and Achsah Goodwin Wilkins.  The album quilt remains popular in quilting today, with quilters re-creating the famous quilts of the past and building on their heritage to fashion fantastic new designs.

Photo Album

See the work of a modern quilt artist, Ruth Adams Lee

Learn more about Album Quilts

See our collection of Floral Quilts at Fleecies.com