Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

This exhibition is a combination of quilts made by or collected by Mary Schafer a quilter that helped keep quilt studies alive between WWII and the revival of quilting in the 1970’s. During her lifetime, she was involved in many aspects of the quilt world including: collecting, designing, quilting and preserving quilting traditions. Her legacy is found in some of today’s quilters, such as Joe Cunningham and Gwen Marston who wrote the book, "Mary Schafer and her Quilts." Gwen Marston also wrote “Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker.” She was honored by the Quilters’ Hall of Fame in 2007, shortly after her death. Two quilt names by Mary caught my eye because of the stories associated with the block. First, Lafayette Orange Peel, which was derived from the myth of Lafayette slicing an orange into 4 parts...

The Chester County Historical Museum has a wonderful exhibition, “Quilts: The Next Layer.” The exhibition was offered in two different rotations, providing access to a wider number of quilts. We visited when the second rotation was on display which continues until July 12, 2017. Considering we were viewing the exhibition in Pennsylvania, it was no surprise that a variety of red and green quilts were on view. In direct contrast to the traditional quilts was a painted silk which commemorated the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union from the late 1800’s. A striking un-washed Mathematical Star of chintz, with the sheen still visible was another surprise. My favorite was a friendship quilt for Martha Thomas. The quilt fully reflected the Chester County heritage, with the names narrowing the locale to the eastern part of the county. An...

We’re super excited! For the first time ever, The Triplett Sisters are offering a Block of the Month for a beautiful 19th century friendship quilt in the Poos Collection. The quilt is dated 1856 with names of a Huguenot family from New York. The quilt is a feast of original and unique blocks which are available as a pattern or as a fusible kit. To learn more, please follow this link. This beautiful antique quilt is featured in The Triplett Sisters new book, Pioneer Quilts: Prairie Settler’s Life in Fabric – Over 30 Quilts from the Poos Collection. (Hmmm, maybe we needed a longer title?) The book has 5 projects in it, but the projects don’t include this special quilt. If you are interested in purchasing the book, please follow this link. To celebrate the launch...

  We were on a recent research trip to explore indigo resist textiles of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. However, we decided to take some time to explore the house, galleries, and gardens. While not strictly a “quilt” event, the house is full of textiles and treasures not to be missed. For more information on Winterthur, follow this link. Henry Francis du Pont created a premier museum of decorative arts. He wanted to emphasize the American style in collecting and throughout the 175 rooms in the house. Even after his death the collecting continues, now overseen by curators of the highest level of expertise. Those curators have set up a coordinating exhibit - Treasures on Trial: The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes. The viewers are given the opportunity to test their own ability to recognize...

A while back I mentioned we’d be starting a non-consecutive series on using artistic principals to use reproduction fabrics in a contemporary quilt. The first element I wrote about was Deconstruction.  However, several people told me it was really the use of color that made it contemporary, not my structure.  So, that seemed like the perfect topic for the next article.   Usually when working with reproduction fabrics, the textile designer tries to replicate the colors originally seen in that period quilt.  Frequently a lot of browns are used and a sepia tint is even given to other brighter colors to give those colors “age.” Remember that some chemical dyes turn brown over time, particularly if fugitive. Note the colors in this reproduction palampore by Mary Koval available for purchase in our etsy shop.  It’s beautiful...