Baltimore Inspiration: Block 1

I haven't really done a lot of applique before, but I'm not letting that stop me from throwing myself into a Baltimore Album style quilt.

The initial inspiration for this particular quilt is a dress that used to live in my dress up box as a kid.

I started looking at this dress through new eyes when I started quilting. I love the color palette. I also thought that it the floral elements would translate very well into applique.

Now, I can't be certain, but I think that this dress came from Mexico. It's been a long time since I talked to my mom about where this dress came from (I think the last time was when I was six and opening my dress up trunk at christmas time), so I can't be sure. The idea that it came from Mexico though, lead me to think that it might be nice to include some day of the dead imagery into a more traditional Baltimore Album quilt.

Here are some sketches for the corner and central block that haven't been translated to the computer yet.

I have finished one of the floral blocks though. Sort of. I'm going to use the raw edge applique technique, as I am a beginner to applique, and this method seems the easiest.

Here is the refined sketch:

And here is the "finished" block. I can't wait to start the next one!

My friend Suz asked me if I would be doing this as a sort of quilt along. I'm not sure if I have the type of blog that would support a formal quilt along, but I am happy to share this pattern if anyone is interested.

I created a pdf that has templates for all the pieces, as well as an alternate shape for the leaves. This is my first time creating something like this, so if you do happen to use it and have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me! I should add that the block itself is 20.5 x 20.5 unfinished, so it should end up at 20 x 20 finished.

Download the PDF here.

p.s. I took Fritz to get a rabies shot yesterday (to prevent, not treat!) and the poor guy put on a really brave face.

I love that you can see his teeth when he sits like this.