Iznik Garden Quilt: A Stunning Baltimore Album-Style Project

By Tamsin Harvey

Recreate the old-world charm of ancient Turkish tiles with ornate flower vase blocks in the beloved Baltimore Album style. Using easy fusible raw-edge applique, or any method you choose, you'll add sashing and borders to the 9-block sampler - a complex-looking design that comes together with ease! Learn techniques to position applique perfectly, plus get 8 ideas for using flower vase blocks to embroider, applique, or paint pillows, bags, and small gifts with international appeal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C&T Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781617454608

Tamsin Harvey

Tamsin Harvey is a pattern designer and co-owns a quilt shop with her mother. Tamsin brings her passion for history and exotic places to her designs, and her quilts have appeared in several Australian patchwork magazines. She lives in Australia’s Southern Highlands. berrimapatchwork.com.au

Book preview

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Editors: Karla Menaugh and Liz Aneloski

Technical Editor: Debbie Rodgers

Cover/Book Designer: Casey Dukes

Production Coordinators: Tim Manibusan and Joe Edge

Production Editors: Jennifer Warren and Nicole Rolandelli

Illustrator: Aliza Shalit

Photo Assistant: Carly Jean Marin

Tile photography by Tamsin Harvey and instructional photography by Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, unless otherwise noted

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

Dedication

To Angela, who made this Ottoman garden bloom and come to life

Iznik (also written as İznik) pottery and ceramics find their origins in the Ottoman Empire, dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During this time, the empire was one of the most powerful states in the world. While conquering various regions and expanding their empire, the Ottoman sultans created a new cultural identity for their homeland, absorbing and adopting many traditions and art forms from conquered regions. They brought artists from these regions back to the capital, Constantinople, to create beautiful handcrafted items that would decorate their palaces. It was during this period that Iznik pottery and ceramics boomed.

These ceramics were inspired by Chinese porcelain, which was highly prized by the Ottoman sultans but expensive. Iznik was ideal for ceramic production due to its nearby deposits of potter’s clay and quartz and its forests that would fuel the kilns. Located in Western Anatolia, in the province of Bursa (historically known as Nicaea), Iznik was near the capital, which also allowed for ease of delivery.

Iznik had been creating cheap and rather ordinary pottery since before the fifteenth century. To put the town in a position where it could create luxury items worthy of the new court, the Ottoman court began sponsoring workshop factories to educate the ceramic makers. As the artists started to develop their skills and knowledge, they developed a new form of ceramic decoration called underglaze painting, transforming Iznik into a town known for superb technical quality and artistry.

Images of Iznik tiles located in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque

Soon artists started experimenting with the colors and the designs painted on tiles. The early examples of Iznik wares consisted mostly of a single color—cobalt blue—and the designs were simple. During the 1530s, the artists