From the Vault - Baltimore Album

Welcome to From the Vault.  In this series,  I'll pull out an old quilt from one of my plastic tubs in the basement.  Some of these quilts are no longer my style or color palette.  Some I still like quite a bit, but they've been edged out on the main floor by others I like better.

Baltimore Album falls into the not-my-current color palette category.  I made it in 2002 as part of an applique class at Quilted Creations.  Do you remember that store on University Avenue?  I think there's a nail salon there now.  The teacher was Violet and I think she was from Beloit.

This quilt came to mind for two reasons:

1. I've enjoyed the hand sewing I've been doing lately and plan on doing lots more in the future.
2. I've been watching the series of Thin Man movies with Myrna Loy and William Powell.  More on this later.

For an introductory applique class, she sure had us doing a wide variety of techniques!  The purple flower smack dab in the center is ruched.  I no longer have any idea on how to do that.  The rudbeckia in the upper right is stuffed with batting to give it dimension.  The bright orange poppy bud in the upper left is a yo-yo laid on its side and sewed to the background before adding the green part it comes out of.  I know there's a name for that green part of the plant.  I bet my friend Pat knows what it is; she's an awesome gardener.  

I like the fabric I picked for the pineapple.  I did good on that!  I remember the grape circles were very hard and boring. 

 
This block has lots of floppy parts.  You can stick your fingers behind all the leaves, the three flower buds, and all the petals of the purple flower.   The basket handle is braided.

More floppy leaves and flower buds.  For some reason, I remember the ribbon being a challenge to sew.  Probably because it's made of six parts and I had trouble lining them all up.  I know that I had to scrap one version of the ribbon before I got it right.

This is my favorite block.  The bird's wings and the flower bud are free (floppy).  I love the basket and its braided handle.  But the best part is the book, which opens to reveal...

I guess I've been collecting quotes for longer than I thought!  While writing this post, I learned that the title of her autobiography is "Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming".  I requested it through the library system and will be reading it shortly.  

Myrna Loy had an interesting life, in and out of movies.  I like actors that are real people.