Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

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...