Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Besides exploring all the wonders in the American Museums, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that many museums of the world have also granted open access. Especially since the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which was one of the first museums to allow access, started in 2011. The curators of the museum made this decision after finding 10,000 low quality scans online for one of the Vermeers in the collection. The Rijksmuseum offers more 208,000 images online at no cost, click here to search their collections. The LACMA, the National Gallery of Arts and the Yale University Gallery followed suit quickly. Since then the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library have also opened their collections. To find out if a museum has open access, simply check their website for a logo which shows open...

I was all set to continue the open access discussion with a look at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts. They have more than 20,000 images available, with hundreds of quilts from 16th century on to the 21st century. The majority of these quilt images are available for free use in either publication quality or presentation quality. However in the middle of my exploration of these quilt images came several revelations. For those who have a bias toward the east coast for quilts, you may be astonished to see the early indigo resist quilt, not only one, but yes a matched set. The quilt originated in Connecticut, but clearly has found a home at LACMA. LACMA houses the Betty Horton Collection from a woman who wanted a comprehensive collection of American and European quilts. In...

About a year ago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art started an “open access” to all of the high-resolution imagery of the over 375,000 public domain works. Previous to this new policy, if I wanted to use an image from the museum, I would need to file a form and usually pay a fee. It made the use of the images difficult for most, impossible for many. This new policy for art appreciators, researchers and in particular quilt or textile lovers is an amazing gift. Textiles are fragile and exposure to light or even moving the textile shortens the life span. Because of the fragility of textiles, most are not on display and research is granted only to a few. However, because of the new access to images, we can all take advantage of seeing textiles and...

There have been some interesting comments and discussions about the Triplett Sisters Friendship Quilt as a pre-cut fusible. Since the Poos Collection and our business is known for antique quilts and teaching workshops of historic methods, it was a surprise to some. Many comments have been simply expressing puzzlement, but some of the comments have been more in the disdain or even angry at our betrayal of this wonderful 1856 Huguenot Friendship Quilt. This made me wonder how many people were aware that the beautiful, amazing, and revered Baltimore Album Quilts were available as pre-cuts. Gasp! Yes, it is shocking I know, but those blocks were available for purchase as pre-cut shapes and in some cases pre-basted onto background fabric squares. Be still my heart! As early as the 1850s, there were pre-cut kits available! If...

I can’t believe its 2018 already! I’ve spent last month confirming contracts and dates, so I know it is 2018, and yet? I completely understand the phrase “time flies when you’re having fun.” We have lots of fun planned for you in 2018! We aren’t even two weeks into the New Year and look what is going on...I was a guest designer for the first block of a scavenger hunt quilt. If you haven’t checked the quilt out yet, simply follow this link. Besides the scavenger hunt quilt, our Block of the Month Friendship Quilt continues. If you are interested in joining us for our BOM, simply follow this link and be sure you sign up for our Facebook page Triplett Sisters BOM here. This week I’ve been working with the Texas Quilt Museum to set...