Monday, November 12, 2012

'Tis the Season: Baltimore Christmas and Anita's Christmas Quilt

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!  We only have to look at today's stunning quilts to get in the spirit. Join us as we explore twp beautiful holiday designs by applique artist and designer, Pearl P. Pereira at P3 Designs.

Baltimore Christmas, 70 x 70" by Cindy Greco. Design by Pearl P. Pereira at P3 Designs


This beautiful quilt won Best of Show and 1st Place Appliqué at the 2012 Contra Costa County Quilt Show (California). The applique work and quilting, done by Cindy Greco, was outstanding. This design was inspired by the Baltimore Album quilts made between 1846 and 1852. Pearl Pereira says:  "When I think of Christmas I think of the Thomas Nast drawing of Santa. He invented the image popularly recognized as Santa Claus today. His Santa Claus was published for the 1862 Christmas season Harper's Weekly cover. It was both of these elements that inspired me to make my Baltimore Christmas quilt."

Close-up, Baltimore Christmas by Cindy Greco, photo by Quilt Inspiration


Here is Block #6, "Christmas Boutique".  A cheery gingerbread man sits atop a pile of presents; he is surrounded by peppermint candy, holly leaves and berries. You can see all 13 blocks, including angels, snowmen, reindeer and a partridge in a pear tree, at the Baltimore Christmas Gallery at P3 Designs.

Anita's Christmas Quilt, 69 x 86", by Pearl P. Pereira at P3 Designs


This lovely album quilt features six sweet angels with messages of hope, faith, charity, love, joy and peace.  Pearl Pereira explains the inspiration for her design:  "Some of my best ideas come from my sewing friends. This quilt is named for Anita Peace, we have been sewing together for many years. Anita asked me if I could design a quilt with primitive angels and alternating star blocks." The pastel prints give this quilt a lovely, feminine feel.


Six angels, gingerbread man, snowman, candy canes, mittens, bells and Rudolph with his nose so bright are set on applique stars with embroidery pine branches.


This adorable snowman appears to be frolicking in the snow. The detail on this block is amazing: notice the snowman's top hat, his blue scarf and buttoned jacket with tiny pockets. The snowman's arms are made from (embroidered) branches !

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of Pearl P. Pereira.  The photos of Cindy Greco's Baltimore Christmas quilt were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

5 comments:

  1. I am currently working on the Baltimore Christmas quilt. Whew! It is a lot of work, but I have the 12 blocks finished and I am about 1/3 of the way through the center medallion. Still have the borders to do. It is a fun quilt but very, very time consuming.

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  2. Hi, Congratulation Cindy! Your quilt looks wonderful. I can tell she spent a lot of time working on your applique look perfect. And the quilting just set off the applique. I hope you will enjoy many Christmas seasons with your quilt displayed in your home for all your family to enjoy.

    Great job.
    Pearl P Pereira

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  3. Is their any guidance for how to quilt the quilt? I see most of the background was stippled but can't tell what, if anything, was done on/around the appliques, especially the center medallion.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sue,

      Because there is so much extensive quilting of the background, the appliques themselves have little quilting, except for the center medallion, in which Santa's beard has some quilting.

      From your comment, we can't see your e-mail address. However, if you'll write to us at quiltinspiration@gmail.com , we'll be glad to send you the large original photo we took of this quilt, so you can see all the details of the quilting.

      Delete

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