Mary Simon Baltimore Album Quilt 1A

There are many Baltimore Album quilt patterns which are now available. This offers a wide choice of projects for the applique stitcher. Several of the patterns appealed to me, but the pattern at the top of my project list is the Mary Simon quilt. The original quilt consisted of 25 very special different appliqued blocks. Each block is quite large (20 inches square). The original quilt, designed in the mid 1800's, did not have it's own border. I plan to design an appropriate border. The finished quilt with 25 blocks and border will be a king-sized quilt. Above is the first block I made from these quilt patterns, made available by the diligent work of ladies of the Baltimore Applique Society. The first block, 1A (or is it A1) is always the most difficult block to make. This is a very special quilt, and I wanted each block to be perfect. It is difficult to not overthink the fabrics, the threads, the placement, and on and on. I would recommend that for any first block of a major quilt that one should just jump in and do what first comes to mind, not worrying about perfection and not overthinking each and every move. When block #25 is finished, take another look at block #1. If you can't live with it, just re-do it. This is the first block I made for the Mary Simon quilt. I can see all sorts of things I would have done differently, but I will not make any changes until I get to block #25, then I will reconsider this block.