Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

  An incredible exhibition at the Bowers Museum featured 40 of China’s “Queen of Couture” Guo Pei’s garments. Although clothing and costumes are closely related to the skills of quilting, these garments seemed even more related through the ancient techniques. Clothing that was quilted, embroidered, and blinged out filled the exhibition. Guo Pei was responsible for bringing some of the older techniques back to life in China. She went house to house looking at curtains in the window to see if a sewing skill was demonstrated. From those selected artisans, she trained new artisans who took the old techniques into new horizons. Many of the garments show a nod to Chinese culture and couture history, while acknowledging the modern woman. She seems to be a designer aware of the duality of the cultures as she finds...

I recently attended a lecture given by Barbara Brackman at the MOKA Quilt study group on the links between Kentucky and Missouri quilts. Shortly after, I attended an exhibition curated by Leah Zieber and Arlene Stevens at the Pasadena Museum of History which featured a group of quilts made of fancy goods (silk, satin, and velvet.) It was wonderful to see the actual textiles, to see in person some of the lessons learned from Brackman’s and others’ research. Fancy Goods Quilts can be made in a typical pattern such as log cabin or in a disorganized collection of shapes known as a crazy quilt. Crazy quilts frequently have embroidered details, which some have commented, the quilter went crazy with all the embroidered designs. However, that may not have been the case. Instead, she may have simply...

Earth Day is approaching soon and since textiles lovers are big material consumables, we should try to do our part to save the earth. Most of us have the condition Stable Syndrome or “stash accumulated beyond life expectancy.” As you know, to aid the world the first rule is to reduce. So, to celebrate Earth Day, why not see how much fabric you can use from your stash. That’s right, sew away for the day! (If you need to buy a few pieces of new fabric to make use of the stash, no worries, it was already made and needs a place too.) The second rule is to reuse. Kudos to all those vintage textile lovers that are purchasing 20th century feed sacks, blocks or quilt tops to create a quilt. This last weekend, I attended...

Founded in 1984, the California Heritage Quilt Project was to engage in research and educational activities regarding California Quilts. Their initial project was to research quilts made and brought to California before 1945. More than four thousand quilts were documented during the hunt for these quilts, a treasure trove of legacy. Another project the organization tackled was the California Sesquicentennial Quilt. A logistical feat of harnessing 230 quilt artists to create a single masterpiece. Board Member Helen S. Powell agreed to be coordinator of the project. Instead of dividing up the project into individual quilt blocks to be assembled later, lead quilt artists Zena Thorpe and Ellen Heck decided to create a pictorial style quilt. One artist took charge of “Northern California”, the other artist took “Southern California” and they “joined” it around Santa Barbara. Quilts...

The Cloth that Changed the World: The Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz was an exhibition created by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto Canada. I wanted to see the exhibit very badly, but a trip to Toronto really didn’t fit in my travel schedule. I had to make do with the exhibition catalog, until the St. Louis Art Museum decided to showcase the exhibit in a joint venture which is up through Jan 8th, 2023. My sister Kay and I made that trip happen. It was worth every second of the drive across the state. We got to see some fantastic palampores, textiles, and Indian Chintz. The exhibit was wonderful about showing the textiles in groupings that were produced for different markets or countries. The St. Louis Art Museum also threw in an amazing surprise,...