Some Baltimore beauties will be belles of the ball when the first-ever Lancaster County Quilt Festival opens Friday in
Pennsylvania. The 10-day festival, designed to run before, during and after the annual Quilters' Heritage Celebration in Lancaster, will feature quilt displays and sales, visits to quilting bees, Pennsylvania Dutch food, auctions, tours, entertainment, an herb fair and a sheep shearing, just for starters.
On view as part of the Quilters' Heritage Celebration will be four antique Baltimore Album Quilts from the collection of the Maryland Historical Society. The celebration will also feature contemporary quilts entered in a Baltimore Album Revival quilting competition.
The Quilters' Heritage Celebration, April 7-10, is in its seventh year. It's expected to draw 10,000 to 12,000 avid quilters to its lectures, workshops, displays and competitions. Among events is a daylong trip on Wednesday from Lancaster to Baltimore to view "Lavish Legacies: The Baltimore Album Quilts 1846-1854," currently on view at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St.
Building the larger festival around the Quilters' Heritage event is a recognition of its drawing power, says Mary Rankin, of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau, based in Lancaster.
"It's something we could have done a long time ago," Ms. Rankin says. "Lancaster County is viewed as America's quilt capital. People have been coming here for decades because of this."
The juxtaposition of the Baltimore album tradition and the Amish and Mennonite quilting traditions makes this year's events particularly interesting, Ms. Rankin says.
Baltimore album quilts, which reached the height of their popularity in the mid-19th century, are made up of blocks that are appliqued -- that is, the designs are sewn down on the background -- in intricate patterns, then pieced, or sewn together, often around a central medallion design, fitted with borders, which usually are also appliqued or pieced, then quilted. The tiny stiches that provide the overall quilted design represent scores of hours of minute labor. Baltimore album quilts were often designed to tell a story, or to represent events or places. They were meant for show, not for use as bedding, and generally employ pale backgrounds and applique in bold shades of red, green, blue or gold.
The finest
"In a nutshell, they are, world-wide, considered to be the finest quilts made in the 19th century," says Jennifer Goldsborough, curator of the historical society. "And they're very specific to Baltimore. Until the last 10 years or so, there's been nothing else like this in the world."
She cites three factors that make the 19th-century quilts stand out: They combined the quilting styles of English and German traditions, from the two most prominent ethnic groups in the city at the time; Baltimore was one of the two most important seaports in the country, which meant that more elaborate fabrics were available, and more affordable, than elsewhere; and, she says, "Baltimore was a very sophisticated city," where quilters had more visual stimulation to inspire them.
A dozen years ago the historical society had an exhibition of Baltimore quilts in its collection, and produced a catalog, which drew international attention to the style. Now, Ms. Goldsborough says, there are quilting guilds in South Africa and Australia that specialize in Baltimore album styles. It's a happy coincidence that the Quilters' Heritage Celebration and the historical society exhibit are running at the same time, she says. "We've had enormous expression of interest from people all over the world." The historical society expects visiting groups from France, England, the Netherlands, Japan and Australia.
Of the four quilts traveling to Lancaster for exhibit, Ms. Goldsborough says, three have never been shown before. They'll be part of the second phase of the Lavish Legacies show, which opens July 14.
In contrast to the Baltimore quilts, traditional Amish quilts are pieced -- that is, the designs are cut from different fabrics and stitched together in a pattern -- usually with black or dark backgrounds and bright designs in solid colors. Pennsylvania quilters also make quilts in other traditional pieced and appliqued styles.
Many hours
It can take as long as 250 hours to make a double-size pieced quilt, and longer for an appliqued design. Quilting bees, or frolics, have eased the labor for generations of Amish and other quilters. A number of seamstresses working on the same quilt can complete in hours or days the work that would take a solitary quilter weeks or months. And, since the Old Order Plain sects shun telephones, television, radio, cars and electricity, the bees offer a chance to catch up on news with family and friends. As part of the quilt festival, a number of bees will be open to the public.
Among other events of the festival are an exhibit of international textiles that features four quilts commissioned by the United Nations to celebrate the year of Indigenous Peoples; a "quilts into kites" luncheon and workshop; a rug-hooking retreat and seminar; a "quilting with chocolate" demonstration using molds and tinted white chocolate to create quilt-patterned candy; and a fashion show of one-of-a-kind patchwork and quilted apparel. On April 9-10 the second annual African-American Quilters Show and Conference will be held at the Comfort Inn Sherwood Knoll in Lancaster.
Workshops begin Thursday at the Quilters' Heritage Celebration. Courses this year include one in creating a small applique album quilt, taught by Catonsville author and teacher Mimi Dietrich; one on how to write and draw on quilts "with style and grace" by Susan McKelvey, Millersville author and teacher, and an introduction to album quilts by popular Washington-based teacher and writer Ellie Sienkiewicz.
"It's a wonderful show," says Ms. McKelvey. "It attracts people from all over -- we have bus loads coming from Michigan and New England. It has several shows within it -- theme shows -- and a huge merchants' mall. People can buy antique quilts and new quilts, and there are famous teachers from around the country. . . . It has everything for the student, the consumer and the curious. It's a good way to be introduced to the quilt world."
For more information about the Lancaster County Quilt Festival, call (800) PA-DUTCH, or stop by the visitor's bureau on Route 30 at the Greenfield Road exit just east of Lancaster. (Lancaster is about 70 miles from Baltimore.) There are many shops, $l workshops, showrooms, outlets and exhibits in the area that have nothing to do with quilting, and many "family-style" restaurants featuring Pennsylvania Dutch specialties.
More information
For more information on workshops and events at the Quilters' Heritage Celebration, call (217) 854-9323 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. central time. Some classes are still available, though the popular days -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- sell out quickly.
"Lavish Legacies," the first of two successive 16-quilt exhibits at the Maryland Historical Society, runs through July 10. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3.50; on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., admission is free. In conjunction with the exhibit, the museum shop has been transformed into a quilting wonderland, with books, cards and quilted items for sale. The shop is open shortly after the museum opens and closes shortly before the museum closes.
Also at the historical society is a display of 24 miniature Baltimore album quilts created and donated by members of the new Baltimore Applique Society. Visitors can vote on their favorite, and the little quilts are for sale (though they'll remain on view until June). There's also a raffle for a quilt in designs copied from quilts in the society's collections. Tickets are $5, and the raffle will be held March 25, 1995.