Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Our first glimpse of the fun about to come was before breakfast, where Kay noticed a local newspaper called "The Fishwrapper", a salute to history even in the title. Think back, or if you don't have first hand knowledge, research what items would have been sold at an old dry goods store. That is the focus of the Penn Dry Goods Market held annually at the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center. The market itself is a glimpse of treasures brought by various vendors selling their wares of quilts, books, buttons, and bows. Vendors are required to have a majority of their wares in the textile category. Besides the antique vendor show, there are two days of special lectures on textiles as well as the history of textiles. This year I was honored to present the trunk...

“We are Africans NOT because we are born in Africa but because Africa is born in us.” The first time I saw that quote with an image of the African continent posted on my sister’s page, I was surprised. After all, we grew up in Kansas. However, Kay Triplett spent about 10 years of her non-textile career living, working, or being connected to Africa. Kay’s living in Africa is the reason I learned how to dye adire or indigo resist. She learned to love the people, the culture, and the artists. Being a textile lover, she particularly learned to love the African textiles, which she personally collected. She helped struggling African artists by supporting their art through purchases. She took lessons from experts in the field to learn the craft and purchased treasures from art centers...

It is no surprise that our recent visit to Pennsylvania provided many opportunities to explore quilts. The visit to Lancaster County Historical Society to specificly research their quilts offered several treasures and revelations. I expected to see a lot of red and green quilts from the area. However, the number of Chintz quilts preserved from the area was a wonderful surprise. I expected to see fabrics with Lancaster Blue, a fabric with two blues present in the style of “double pink,” popular during the 1860-1880 period. With the name derived from the location, also known as Pennsylvania Blue, it was natural to think it would be in the quilts. Instead, I left in awe of a chrome yellow found in an antique quilt.   The element chromium was discovered in 1797 by Louis Vauquelin and used...

This exhibition is a combination of quilts made by or collected by Mary Schafer a quilter that helped keep quilt studies alive between WWII and the revival of quilting in the 1970’s. During her lifetime, she was involved in many aspects of the quilt world including: collecting, designing, quilting and preserving quilting traditions. Her legacy is found in some of today’s quilters, such as Joe Cunningham and Gwen Marston who wrote the book, "Mary Schafer and her Quilts." Gwen Marston also wrote “Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker.” She was honored by the Quilters’ Hall of Fame in 2007, shortly after her death. Two quilt names by Mary caught my eye because of the stories associated with the block. First, Lafayette Orange Peel, which was derived from the myth of Lafayette slicing an orange into 4 parts...

The Chester County Historical Museum has a wonderful exhibition, “Quilts: The Next Layer.” The exhibition was offered in two different rotations, providing access to a wider number of quilts. We visited when the second rotation was on display which continues until July 12, 2017. Considering we were viewing the exhibition in Pennsylvania, it was no surprise that a variety of red and green quilts were on view. In direct contrast to the traditional quilts was a painted silk which commemorated the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union from the late 1800’s. A striking un-washed Mathematical Star of chintz, with the sheen still visible was another surprise. My favorite was a friendship quilt for Martha Thomas. The quilt fully reflected the Chester County heritage, with the names narrowing the locale to the eastern part of the county. An...