Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Now that 35 plus quilts have been located in the style dubbed Northern Cut-out Applique, it is time to really focus on each quilt/coverlet/quilt top to see if we can figure out that quilt’s particular story as well as how that quilt ties together with other coverlets from the grouping. This is especially true since these coverlets have inscriptions on the blocks which provide additional information. It makes sense to start with the coverlet in the Poos Collection. The Machette/Taylor Coverlet is so named because of the two inscriptions located prominently on the quilt with matching dates of April 27th, 1840. We have a chart of all the inscriptions on the coverlet to help guide our research. Multiple Machette and Taylor family members have their names inscribed on the coverlet and all of the blocks with...

In 1805, The Select Society published rules for the Philadelphia girl’s society as follows: “We are to meet at half-past two, to sew till eight…and that boys shall not be admitted until eight o’clock.” Sewing Societies in Philadelphia were extremely active and productive. The sewing groups went by many different names and served multiple different functions. Sewing Societies were so popular in Philadelphia that merchants ran newspaper ads to attract the societies as customers offering special prices on goods and fabrics such as flannels, woolens, calicoes [sic], muslins, and calico quilts. The Sewing Societies (also sometimes known as Dorcas Society) were usually associated with a benevolent mission (orphan, school, poor, hospital, missionary) and were frequently also associated with a church. The ladies used their sewing skills to create items to raise money selling at fairs and...

When I hunted for quilting supplies in Baltimore Maryland, the earliest references in the newspaper ads were 1849 for quilting scissors or Album blocks. (Here is a link to the article.) However, in Philadelphia, we see ads for “quiltings” and “double back quiltings” as early as 1832-33. A hunt for a 19th century dictionary or reference book to define the phrase didn’t magically appear, even after digging. I did find an ad that noted it was quilted fabric with 2 backings for extra warmth. By 1840s Dry Goods stores advertised, quilts and counterpanes for sale, as well as quilting frames. Starting in January 1842, there were ads for wadding and quilting cotton. This cotton batting was available in black or white sometimes for as cheap as 6 cents or 35 cents for a dozen. One reference...

I promise we will continue to share our BAQs research, however it seems appropriate to show how some of these research topics related to Philadelphia and the inscribed applique quilts that were appearing in that region in the mid-nineteenth century. Philadelphia was one of the oldest cities in the nation and was in the forefront of pivotal events that shaped our country. Would it prove to be in the forefront of quilting as well? In the instance of businesses selling BAQs in Baltimore, we see pawnbrokers and auction houses advertising selling quilts as early as 1843. (Here is a link to the blog article about businesses selling BAQs) In Philadelphia, we see the sales by pawnbrokers and auction houses advertising quilts as early as 1837…more than 5 years earlier. In his ad, G. W. Smith, a...

Although we are still gathering photos for our Pinterest page to help us learn more about the Baltimore Album Quilts, it has become apparent that there are quilts with matching borders. In fact, I’ve identified five groups with five or more quilts in the group. Several of the borders are very distinctive, complicated borders that would be difficult and require a lot of time to do one side, let alone four sides. Is this a sign of a professional quilter, a workshop, a church group of ladies working together or simply a pattern being replicated? Does it mean the professional quilter made the whole quilt, or just added borders to a friendship quilt made at a quilting frolic? The rose border, (which has sometimes been credited to Mary Evans because of the style of rose) matches...