Quilt

Description

The boldly colored intricate designs in this Baltimore album quilt can be attributed to the master designer of Baltimore album quilt blocks, Mary Simon, a Bavarian-born immigrant who settled in Baltimore in 1844. Mary Simon created and sold cut-and-basted quilt kits to provide supplemental income for her family and, consequently, her exquisite eye for detail immortalized her as an integral hand in the flourishing popularity of this quilt style. Simon’s manipulation of shaded and multi-colored fabrics to create a sense of three-dimensionality and the inking of details and inscriptions rather than embroidering are the most recognized indicators of her work. The famous intricately woven red baskets, miniature figures in fully tailored garments, and most pictorial landscapes may be credited to Simon.