The Wedding Album Quilt Exhibition opening at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival (KCRQF) is today June 15, 2023. The 2020 Triplett Sisters Block of the Month pattern was based on the c. 1860 original antique quilt from the Poos Collection and will be on display. This quilt was the cover quilt on the first book about the collection, Red & Green Quilts from the Poos Collection. Also in the exhibit will be six other quilts interpreting or reproducing the original from quilt artists: Kathy Delaney, Darla Hanks, Lin McQuiston, Nancy Paris, Lori Lee Triplett, and Christine Turner. The quilt artists used a variety of applique techniques as well as extra flourishes of hand painting, and embroidery. Additionally, some of the artists altered the colors, the pattern, and the meaning behind the original quilt to make...
Textiles and the Triplett Sisters
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...
My sister informed me, “everyone knows what it is when you call it the Bible Block like from Baltimore Album Quilts.” (BTW, if you don’t have a sister or friend to discuss quilts and quilt history, find one. I’ve truly learned so much from our discussions and hopefully my sister has learned some from me too…more than if I only went on hunts that I instigated.) Yes, most people do know what it is when you call it a Bible block, but what if in fact it is an autograph book in the quilt, not a Bible block? A real clue that you might need to explore another answer is when the quilt has more than one “Bible block” contained in it. Or if the known quilt makers have used previous books to represent an autograph...
This past weekend I gave a presentation on these glorious applique quilts to the American Quilt Study Group. Every time I speak on the quilts, I ask for anyone to let me know if they are aware of a quilt that I haven’t talked about or shown. Huge thanks to Lorie Stubbs, Leah Zeiber, Peggy Norris, and Susan Morrison who contacted me with quilt images and information. Each one of these quilts that gets discovered, adds to the body of information and understanding of this particular style. I’d already planned this week’s blog to write on whether there were area styles within this regional style. I’m still collecting data, but I have noticed the red setting strips in the mixed albums seem to be found in the New York area. Peggy Norris wrote to me that...
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’ve been researching a Northern style of cutout applique quilts. (If you need a refresher, here’s a link to the last article, which has links to the previous articles.) It’s time for a mini-update. If you’d like a more complete update, I invite you to attend the AQSG Virtual Study Center Northern Chintz Quilts that I’m teaching. For the first time this study center will be open to non-members, so jump on the opportunity while you can at this link. Last year, a wonderful quilting colleague notified Kay and I that a Northern Style Chintz Quilt was up for sale on Etsy. (Thank you, thank you!) My sister immediately began the complicated process of acquisition. Complicated because the quilt was located in Japan, and the value was such...