"Quilts in the Baltimore Manner" opens June 9 in the Foster and Muriel McCarl Gallery and reflects the strong textile industry and innovative quiltmaking styles of America's largest seaport of the period 1845 to 1855. Religious movements and social organizations created environments within the city and nearby counties that made it easy to share quilt designs and labor. "At least one if not several enterprising Baltimore women sold prefabricated quilt blocks," said Linda Baumgarten, Colonial Williamsburg curator of textiles, who co-curated the exhibition. "That's significant because it combines traditional quilt making with the new era of commercialism and work force specialization."

Each quilt block is decorated with intricate designs appliquéd to a ground fabric. The appliqué technique uses cut-out, shaped pieces stitched to a ground textile in the desired pattern. "Some appliquéd designs are further ornamented with inked, embroidered or padded details," said exhibit co-curator Kim Ivey, associate curator of textiles. "These sophisticated suggestions of texture and dimension constitute a noteworthy trademark of Baltimore album quilts."