Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Somerset is a county in the South West of England by Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon. . Parts of the area were settled very early, with bones dating to 12,000 BCE. It comes from an Old English name “Sumorsaete meaning the people living dependent on Somerton.” The first known use of the name is in the law code of King Ine, a Saxon King from 688 to 726, which makes Somerset one of the oldest existing units of local government. The Quakers established a “Meeting” in Somerset in 1656, eventually establishing a meeting house and during the 1700s the town became predominantly Quaker. In 2015 a suitcase was discovered in the attic of this Quaker town, which had more than 70 fabrics from the mid-1800s. According to Anne Varley, the owner of the antique fabric stash...

My sister continues to shovel as additional snowstorms come her way. However, I’m so thankful that Spring is coming to my area. Jonquils and narcissus are blooming with the magnolia tree showing color, which means that it’s time for a Spring update. My quilt designs are definitely turning springlike with birds, blooms, and butterflies. So, stay tuned to Saturday Sampler to see more of those. I’ll also be adding some Spring colors in reproduction fabric (vintage and new) to the Etsy shop to help with these Spring designs. The Triplett Sisters Block of the Month is full of birds and blooms with some choosing to add butterflies. We’re just getting started on this BOM and everyone is invited to work at their own pace, so please don’t hesitate to join us. You will also see this...

Several blogs back I wrote contemplating whether there might be a regional style of chintz quilts associated with Philadelphia. If you don’t remember the blog, here is the link to re-read or look at those glorious quilts again. I decided I wasn’t done with this topic and needed to share more. I’m working on a mini-database of these quilts. I’d love to identify specific characteristics, a specific block or even fabric that wasn’t readily available elsewhere that would allow me to note “possible Philly” connection even without the provenance. (Okay, it’s a goal, who knows if it will work out.) I’m continuing to pull more quilts together that fit the Philadelphia style to create a database and to inspire others to make these again. (You know who you are!) If you are aware of an antique...

It seems like many textile people have a strong feeling about printed patchwork, they either love it and collect it or they hate it and consider it a cheat way to make a quilt. Hence the nickname of cheater cloth which according to Barbara Brackman was used for the first time in print in 1910 by “America’s Textile Reporter.” In 1929 Ruth Finley’s “Old Patchwork Quilts” book refers to this style of fabric as Faux Patchwork and Geometrical Chintz, a term still in use at the Winterthur Museum. Surprisingly “patchwork prints” the phrase used in the 19th century ads has been around since the mid-18th century, according to Deborah E. Kraak’s paper in Uncoverings.While the “pretend patchwork” seems to have been popular in the 1830s-1840s, the Centennial Exposition of 1876 caused an explosion in the printed...

The large central star pattern in a quilt is usually associated with American patchwork, according to the V & A. Although the pattern has been found in other countries, so it isn’t exclusive to America. This pattern is considered one of the older quilt patterns. At this time, no date inscribed quilt using the large central star has been found in the early 19th century. However, dating quilts using the fabric provides many examples after 1820. During the early period of the star pattern, the most frequent name used was Star of Bethlehem which was used throughout the United States. This name of course relates to the large star guiding the wise men to the town of Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. Mathematical Star was the early name used in England and the eastern coast of...