Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

I’m always interested in learning more about historical patchwork and natural dyes. Sometimes when you are researching one thing, you are fortunate enough to find something unexpected, which of course for me, means learning more about it. My discovery was a Huari textile from about 600-1000 that was made of patchwork. So far, it is the oldest piece of patchwork I’ve seen, and it was tied dyed with indigo! (A double score on the interest scale for me!) Huari (Wari) was a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes from 500-1000 AD. It is the coastal area of modern-day Peru where a series of Huari archaeological ruins is located. They had an extensive history of artistic expression in metalwork, ceramics, and particularly textiles. The surviving textile examples are primarily tapestries, hats, and tunics. All...

We are happy to announce that our BOM: The Wedding Album Quilt has an exhibition scheduled at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival June 15-17, 2023. (Here is a link to learn more about this festival.) Quilters from around the world are participating in creating their own version of The Wedding Album Quilt. If you are interested in making this quilt, please do, there is still time to get your version included in the exhibition. (Here is the link to the pattern.) The Triplett Sisters like to encourage a variety of techniques, colors and interpretations to be used in their BOMs. This creates a unique exhibit as you compare and contrast the changes to the original pattern. There are a variety of background fabrics, different layouts, printed fabrics, and hand painted fabrics. Applique techniques used vary...

  An incredible exhibition at the Bowers Museum featured 40 of China’s “Queen of Couture” Guo Pei’s garments. Although clothing and costumes are closely related to the skills of quilting, these garments seemed even more related through the ancient techniques. Clothing that was quilted, embroidered, and blinged out filled the exhibition. Guo Pei was responsible for bringing some of the older techniques back to life in China. She went house to house looking at curtains in the window to see if a sewing skill was demonstrated. From those selected artisans, she trained new artisans who took the old techniques into new horizons. Many of the garments show a nod to Chinese culture and couture history, while acknowledging the modern woman. She seems to be a designer aware of the duality of the cultures as she finds...

I recently attended a lecture given by Barbara Brackman at the MOKA Quilt study group on the links between Kentucky and Missouri quilts. Shortly after, I attended an exhibition curated by Leah Zieber and Arlene Stevens at the Pasadena Museum of History which featured a group of quilts made of fancy goods (silk, satin, and velvet.) It was wonderful to see the actual textiles, to see in person some of the lessons learned from Brackman’s and others’ research. Fancy Goods Quilts can be made in a typical pattern such as log cabin or in a disorganized collection of shapes known as a crazy quilt. Crazy quilts frequently have embroidered details, which some have commented, the quilter went crazy with all the embroidered designs. However, that may not have been the case. Instead, she may have simply...

Earth Day is approaching soon and since textiles lovers are big material consumables, we should try to do our part to save the earth. Most of us have the condition Stable Syndrome or “stash accumulated beyond life expectancy.” As you know, to aid the world the first rule is to reduce. So, to celebrate Earth Day, why not see how much fabric you can use from your stash. That’s right, sew away for the day! (If you need to buy a few pieces of new fabric to make use of the stash, no worries, it was already made and needs a place too.) The second rule is to reuse. Kudos to all those vintage textile lovers that are purchasing 20th century feed sacks, blocks or quilt tops to create a quilt. This last weekend, I attended...