Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Jane A. Blakely was born is Shaftsbury, Vermont on April 8, 1817 to Erastus and Sarah Blakely. In 1844, she married Walter P. Stickle in October 1844, and having no children of her own, the couple later assumed responsibility for three children. Sadly she became bedridden, but to “kill the time” she began to piece the quilt. The quilt features 169 five x five blocks with a border of triangles and a scalloped edge. In one corner it is inked “In War Time. 1863” “Pieces 5602” and stitched in black thread over the ink “Jane A. Stickle.” The initials “SB” cross stitched in the center led to the presumption that is backed by an old linen sheet from her mother Sarah Blakely. The quilt was listed in the highlights of the 1863 Bennington County Agriculture Fair....

In our continuing tour of the exhibitions at the Houston Quilt Festival, we were surprised to see very few antique quilts. We missed seeing older quilts in all their ancient glory. Fortunately, there was one exhibition entirely of antique quilts called “Pieces of the Past.” One of the quilts was by Anna Williams, which doesn’t seem like a part of the past, since Kay knew her and spent time with her at a friend’s house. (Does that mean you are getting old when you know someone that made a quilt in an antique quilt exhibit???) Anna’s improvisational style was natural to her, but her style was one that many art quilters strive to find for themselves. Another quilt had one of my favorite pillar print birds in it. I’ve written about this fabric before (if you’d...

As you may recall, this year my sister and I had the Huguenot Friendship Quilt exhibit at the Houston Quilt Festival. We realized that not everyone was able to attend the festival this year, so we thought we’d take you to the festival through our blog. Since the big prize-winning quilts have been readily available online, I thought I would focus on other parts of the festival starting with miniature quilts. I’ve only written one other blog on miniature quilts, perhaps because not many miniature quilts are antique. It seems to be a more recent phenomenon. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History only has one quilt in the collection labeled “Miniature” and it was likely a Doll Quilt. True miniature quilts are patterns/designs found in large quilts but recreated in a smaller scale. Ideally, in...

Miniature Quilts don’t seem to get the acknowledgement they deserve. Any work of art should be appreciated, but I’ve noticed miniatures are rarely featured in magazines or blogs. In fact, I’m guilty too, I’ve never written a blog about miniature quilts. So now is the time to make up my deficit with a showcase of the miniature quilts from the Houston International Quilt Festival. Now, I agree that making full size quilts is an amazing feat, but so is making quilts that look full-size in a photo yet smaller than a ruler. Blocks in full size quilts that are 12 inches can be the entire size of a mini. If you think paper piecing with an inch size is a tiny block, try a ½ inch. Smaller is not easier, except maybe in the basting process....

The 45th anniversary of the Houston Quilt Festival occurred this year and was very memorable for multiple reasons. The multi-level display of beautiful blue and white quilts was an amazing way to honor the accomplishments of all those workers, vendors, and quilt artists who have contributed to this event for 45 years. The two founders of the festival Karey Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes continue to be involved in the festival and share their love of quilts. I was pleased to teach 8 classes, 2 demos, and provided 3 gallery talks for our special exhibition. “Antique Quilts from the Poos Collection” exhibited 25 quilts from our newest book “Hidden Treasures, Quilts from 1600 to 1860.” Besides our special exhibition, there were many other special exhibitions, which will be our focus in an upcoming series of...