Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

This was our first time visiting the Pour L’Amour du Fil Quilt Show in Nantes, France. Held annually every April, it is a showcase for all things Quiltmania (publisher of quilt books and magazines) and more. I was teaching a workshop in the Netherlands shortly before the event, so we drove down to see the show and cross an item off of Kay’s bucket list. Plus, the quilt show theme was of particular interest to us. Spirit of the South focused on Pique de Marseille and Boutis, which is a chapter in our next book “Hidden Treasures.” Monique Alphand, a well-known expert on Marseille and Provencal textiles was having an exhibition of her private collection of chintz and boutis. (Yes, even though we were really there to see the boutis, Kay and I weren’t going to...

On the “to do” list for the Triplett Sisters is a trip to India to learn more about the textile treasures. But this exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, gave us a taste to remind us why India needs to stay on our bucket list. It displayed three centuries of royal treasures from the kingdom of Marwar-Johpur. Of the 250 objects on display, a large percentage of it was textiles. If you missed the exhibit in Houston, don’t worry the display travels to Seattle next Oct 18- Jan 21 and then Toronto. As we toured the exhibition I was stunned by the direct correlation to quilting. Not just the fact that chintz and other cotton fabric was included, but that shapes of jewelry replicated the feathered quilting designs we use. Or a tent...

So if you follow our blog, you might be wondering where in the world we are since March 10. Funny you should ask, we have been to multiple countries in the world teaching, seeing exhibitions, and quilt shows. We’ve also been writing our next book which had a shorter than expected timeline, given that it has three times the number of quilts. However, all of this is now to your benefit, because we’re now going to share what we can through the blog. We went on a “visit” to Jodhpur lands of India, through the “Peacock in the Desert” exhibition in Houston. We went to a private exhibition in Belgium, I’m still waiting to hear what photos I can share. We went to the Pour L’Amour du Fil Quilt Show in Nantes, France and will share...

We are continuing to work on our Huguenot Friendship Quilt as our block of the month. It is an amazing quilt that contains many signatures that are either cross-stitched or embroidered into the quilt. If you haven’t seen this quilt yet, please be sure to follow this link and join us in making your own version of the quilt. Last week when showing this quilt in a presentation, I was asked if it was a signature quilt, friendship or album quilt. The term “inscribed quilts” is really the catchall category for a variety of quilts that have multiple names/signatures. (The joy of finding a quilt with the maker’s signature is surpassed by finding a quilt with multiple signatures.) The signatures can be inked or stitched with a signature (cursive) or printed. The names can be stamped,...

Besides exploring all the wonders in the American Museums, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that many museums of the world have also granted open access. Especially since the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which was one of the first museums to allow access, started in 2011. The curators of the museum made this decision after finding 10,000 low quality scans online for one of the Vermeers in the collection. The Rijksmuseum offers more 208,000 images online at no cost, click here to search their collections. The LACMA, the National Gallery of Arts and the Yale University Gallery followed suit quickly. Since then the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library have also opened their collections. To find out if a museum has open access, simply check their website for a logo which shows open...