Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

I probably should have saved this blog for the week of Flag Day or some other holiday, but one of the special exhibitions at the recent AQS QuiltWeek caught my eye. Presidential and Patriotic Quilts from the collection of Sue Reich had two quilts that fascinated me. The first quilt was the Centennial Flag Banner Quilt 1876, 76” x 82” contained fabric with a patent date of December 28, 1875. Although patriotic themed textiles had been popular in America for some time, fabric companies ramped up production on many new fabrics related to the Centennial Exposition of 1876. The exposition held in Philadelphia was something I’d just been researching because of a quilt in our next book, Pioneer Quilts. Officially named the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of Soil and Mine, considered the first...

This week as I was teaching at the AQS QuiltWeek show in Des Moines, IA, I perused the quilt exhibitions and checked out the winners circle. I saw a number of beautiful and technically superior quilts, many which I’ve seen before, as I’m sure you have. These quilts were selected for being the best hand quilting, best machine quilting, and best of show etc. Congrats to the winners who magnificently expressed many of the elements of art! However, I found myself bemoaning that a specific category of artistic expression hadn’t been honored….story. Cherrywood Challenge 2016: The Lion KingBroadway recognizes the value of story It is story in the art or of the art that makes us laugh, cry, and/or scream. It is story that provides cathartic release or allows the artistic expression of the quilter to...

I am on my first trip to the Baja peninsula. The ocean is beautiful and the fish plentiful for scuba diving. Can we all start singing “Let’s go where the sky is blue…” I was pleasantly surprised to find the resort where I am staying had some beautiful “inland” Mexican clothing displayed, all hand embroidered. It wasn’t at all like the traditional folkloric costumes.  Instead, I was surprised to notice similarities to Yoruba and Igbo tribal clothing from West Africa. On one hand, the similarities might have been expected. Much of the world used simple looms for handwoven clothing and decorative textiles. Sewing narrow strips together is more manageable than trying to weave a large garment as one piece. Simple clothing designed to take advantage of the strip construction should be expected.    “Blue, blue, my...

Originally printed for furniture or wall hangings, Chintz panels were also designed as seat covers or seat backs. Approximately 40 different panels are known, with more to be discovered. The majority of the surviving chintz panels known were printed in England, but panels were also printed in India and France. These printed panels came to be known as center medallions and were quickly adopted by quilters as the perfect center of the quilt. Approximately 200 antique quilts used these different medallions with a variety of frames and piecing. But the panels eventually became more than just the centerpiece, with some quilts using as many as 10 or more panels. One well known panel called the Fruit Basket Medallion or Basket of Fruit has been documented in approximately 40 British and American quilts. It was a favorite...

For some time now, Kay and I have resisted having a blog for a variety of reasons. However, after multiple requests from guild members and suggestions from our friends…Here it is! We hope that you will come along with us on our wild, wacky and wonderful quilting journey. Please invite others to join us as well, as the more the merrier. We put much thought into the name. Kay was a proponent of “Poos on the Loose” tying our grandmother’s name for which we named the collection with our love of travel. I advocated for “A Stitch in Time” tying the historical nature of the collection with whatever we were working on right this minute. Instead we agreed upon the dynamite name of T-n-T’s, since people call us the Triplett Sisters.  It is easier than trying...