Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

I’m always interested in learning more about historical patchwork and natural dyes. Sometimes when you are researching one thing, you are fortunate enough to find something unexpected, which of course for me, means learning more about it. My discovery was a Huari textile from about 600-1000 that was made of patchwork. So far, it is the oldest piece of patchwork I’ve seen, and it was tied dyed with indigo! (A double score on the interest scale for me!) Huari (Wari) was a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes from 500-1000 AD. It is the coastal area of modern-day Peru where a series of Huari archaeological ruins is located. They had an extensive history of artistic expression in metalwork, ceramics, and particularly textiles. The surviving textile examples are primarily tapestries, hats, and tunics. All...

As some of you may recall, I’ve been researching whether there is a regional style of chintz applique. (If you want to re-read the previous blogs, here are the links to the first, second, third, and fourth blog.) After more research, I identified 20 quilts in the style, although the whereabouts are not always known. To see these quilts, please check out our Pinterest page at this link. Wherever possible we’ve included documentation about the quilt, but a few quilts in private collections are not included. Because of some written records, we know there are still additional quilts in this style out there. So, if you know about one of these quilts, please send me the information! We also identified more than 10 mixed album quilts which fit into this grouping by both style (chintz applique...

Because we research indigo for our books and more, we tend to write about indigo, instead of Prussian Blue. However, as we continue to focus on dyes, it is important to include Prussian Blue, an extremely popular dye of the 18-19thth century. Prussian blue was “invented” in 1704 by Henrich Diesbach in a laboratory. I used quotations around the word “invent” because it was actually a mistake made when trying to create the red color of Florentine Lake. The inventors quickly retraced their steps to create one of the more popular blue pigment and dyes. Prussian blue was much easier to work with in textiles than indigo and could be used in a variety of printing processes. Sadly, it does turn brown if exposed to heat or in the presence of alkalis. So, one way to...

We are happy to announce that our BOM: The Wedding Album Quilt has an exhibition scheduled at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival June 15-17, 2023. (Here is a link to learn more about this festival.) Quilters from around the world are participating in creating their own version of The Wedding Album Quilt. If you are interested in making this quilt, please do, there is still time to get your version included in the exhibition. (Here is the link to the pattern.) The Triplett Sisters like to encourage a variety of techniques, colors and interpretations to be used in their BOMs. This creates a unique exhibit as you compare and contrast the changes to the original pattern. There are a variety of background fabrics, different layouts, printed fabrics, and hand painted fabrics. Applique techniques used vary...

I recently gave a Study Center on this topic at the American Quilt Study Seminar. I had lots of questions and requests for information after the program. I certainly won’t give the whole presentation, but plan to explore the topic through a series of nonsequential blogs. (I’ll intermix other topics, so no one gets bored!) Military quilts (sometimes called soldier quilts or war quilts) are traditionally made from fabrics used in the production of military uniforms. The colorfast wool uniforms made for brilliant color with fabric that didn’t fray which allowed for distinct choices to be made in construction and design. Tailors used scraps from making the military uniforms to create their works of art. Soldiers used the uniforms to create the bedcovers as a form of therapy when convalescing or as an alternative to stave...