Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

The Triplett Sisters had an adventure in DC, with much to see. We went to a wonderful exhibition “Bingata! Only in Okinwa” at The George Washington Textile Museum. Our arrival was timed perfectly to participate in a tour by Curator Lee Talbot. (The exhibit was so wonderful we went back again!) I’m writing about it immediately because…IT CLOSES JANUARY 30, 2017. So, if you live in the DC area or can get to the DC area in the next few days, the exhibit is worth the effort. Bingata is a technique which uses pigments and dyes to create wonderful multicolored fabrics. It can be done either freehand or with paper stencils. These techniques have been used for more than 300 years in the Ryukyu Kingdom (now the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan). This area because of maritime...

This year Colonial Williamsburg is offering a conference on “Printed Fashions: Textiles for Clothing and the Home, March 26-28, 2107. Every year the CW team puts together interesting symposiums, but this year the guest speaker line up is amazing! Many of the presenters are coming from across the pond, so it’s the perfect opportunity to learn from British experts without going overseas. Rosemary Crill, now retired from the Victoria and Albert Museum, is still an honorary research associate. She will be discussing, “When Print Meets Pen: Block-printing and Hand-drawing in Indian Cotton Textiles.” Other presenters from overseas include John Styles, honorary senior research fellow, Victoria and Albert Museum, Bridget Long, visiting research fellow in history, University of Hertfordshire, and Philip Sykas, research associate from Manchester School of Art. Colonial Williamsburg have also included some talented Americans...

This fall the decision was made to move part of the Poos Collection to a new storage facility. When you are dealing with one of the largest quilt and textile collections in the world the idea of a move can be a bit daunting…overwhelming. People began to ask me questions about care and storage, and so I’m happy to address this in a series of articles in the blog. The articles won’t be sequential, so if it isn’t a topic that interests you, we won’t bore you by writing about the same thing each week. If this is a topic of interest, just know that we will address a variety of information around the subject in upcoming articles. The first thing to consider is the environment that you are going to store your quilts. Remember this...

Hopefully by now you’re singing along with your favorite version of the song “Feeling Good!” This year started off with a bang, being featured on “The Quilt Show” video on New Year’s Day on collecting and later in the week on indigo resist. The Triplett Sisters have an exciting year planned and can hardly wait! So, we hope you’ll be thrilled to join us in several of our quilting adventures. First, we will be launching our first ever Block of the Month quilt. It really is an adventure for us, with all the details to be worked out. It is based on an 1856 Friendship Quilt from the Poos Collection and will also have a modern hand-painted option too. So, stay tuned for more details! Did I mention that the antique friendship quilt is also featured in...

It is the end of the year and many are announcing the best and worst list for the year. However, I hesitated to do so because it is so subjective. Also, even if I didn’t choose an exhibition, auction, or book at the top of the list, it doesn’t mean it didn’t have value or that I couldn’t learn something from it. Instead, I decided to pick my “favorites” of the year, that way I’m being honest about the subjectivity. Favorite Exhibition: The Fabric of India at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. I technically saw the exhibition in December of 2015, but the exhibition ran into this year, as did my reading of the exhibition book. It was an amazing exhibition, which provided some detailed info for a new theory of fabric printing Kay and...