Showing posts with label Poos Collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poos Collection. Show all posts

Monday, July 1, 2019

Hidden Treasures: Early Quilts from the Poos Collection

The 100 quilts in Hidden Treasures: Rarely Seen Pre-Civil War Textiles from the Poos Collection are so memorable and gorgeous, antique quilt lovers are warned against heart palpitations and turning green with envy! These are quilts in a private collection. Lori Lee and Kay Triplett have previously shared quilts from the collecting in Indigo Quilts, Pioneer Quilts, Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection and Red and Green Quilts from the Poos Collection. 

The Poos Collection is one of the largest privately held quilt collections in the world with a concentration on pre-1860 quilts from American, Britain, and France.
Baltimore Album Quilt with Rose Border, American, 1848
The quilts are presented in groupings:
  • Album Quilts
  • Wool Quilts
  • Birds of a Feather
  • Starstruck
  • Paper-pieced Quilts
  • Red and Green Quilts
  • Chintz Coverlets and Quilts
  • White Wholecloth Quilts
Crewel Curtains Quilt, English, c. 1750s

Early quilts often repurposed textiles. Chintz was a glazed fabric made in India with woodblock printed or painted images. Europeans used the fabric for home decor and clothing. Early Chintz quilts had little piecing, using the fabric whole. Later the naturalistic motifs were cut out and hand appliqued to a plain background.  Crewelwork drapes, quilted petticoats, and other textiles were also cut up to make quilts.

Thrush Family Crewel Quilt, English, 1810
Pictorial applique quilts often include images important to the quilter, her historical setting, and contemporaneous historical events. These quilts are not only a thing of beauty but also offer insight into other times.

The Veray Settlement Table Cover, c. 1820, includes intarsia, applique, and embroidery on wool to depict the history of the settlement. Intarsia is one of the earliest techniques found in pieced textiles. Over ten pages, each panel is reproduced and the image's representation explained.

The Sarah B. Dales Damascus Mission Quilt, American, 1854, consists of blocks with beautifully inked drawings and names, sew together 'pot holder' method. In this method, individual bocks were layered, quilted, and bound off,  then sewn together to form the quilt. The presentation quilt was given to Miss Dales before leaving to be a missionary teacher in Damascus.

Wholecloth Quilting is the oldest style, dating to the 13th c. Sometimes the quilt top was made of printed fabrics. Most are white with white quilting, sometimes with stuffing between the stitches to raise quilted motifs, called trapunto. Photographing these quilts is problematic as it is hard to show the elaborate stitching. The images in this book are excellent. I appreciated the use of backlighting to better show quilt details.

The Applique Gone Wild Coverlet, English, c. 1825, combines applique motifs with pieced blocks and cut-out chintz motifs. 

In the 1820s English Medallion style quilts had layers of pieced blocks and squares, triangles, and rectangles of fabrics. 

English Paper Piecing is one of the oldest quilt methods Fabric is sewn around a paper template and the shapes stitched together. The technique is in revival with contemporary quilters. I was very inspired by the fussy-cutting use of printed fabric motifs in the Lewis Family Hexagon Quilt, American, 1825-1850. 
Hexagon Diamonds Quilt, American 1850 is a paper pieced quilt

The Rose Sampler Quilt, American, 1860, has an improvisational quality and a personality all it's own. The medallion-type setting is off center, the outer border bud motifs are each different. It is a quilt that brings joy to the viewer.

I thank the collectors and authors Lori Lee Triplett and Kay Triplett for sharing their amazing collection through this book. Follow their blog Quilt & Textile Collections at https://www.quiltandtextilecollections.com/blog

This is a 'must' for your personal quilt history collection!

I was given access to a free ebook by the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Hidden Treasures, Quilts from 1600 to 1860: Rarely Seen Pre–Civil War Textiles from the Poos Collection
Lori Lee Triplett and Kay Triplett
Available on July 1,  2019
Book ( $39.95  ) eBook ( $31.99 )
ISBN: 978-1-61745-807-1
(eISBN: 978-1-61745-808-8)

Monday, June 19, 2017

Pioneer Quilts: Prairie Settlers' Life in Fabric, Over 300 Quilts from the Poos Collection

Following their best selling 2015 book Indigo Quilts, which featured thirty blue and white quilts from the Poos collection, sisters Lori Lee Triplett and Kay Triplett now share over 300 more Poos Collection quilts in their upcoming book Pioneer Quilts: Prairie Settlers' Life in Fabric.

The Poos Collection is named for Martha Poos, the Triplett's grandmother. It is one of the largest privately held quilt and textile collections in the world with an emphasis on quilts from before 1860, including white on white, chintz, red and green, and indigo quilts.

Many of the quilts are fragile and cannot hold up to display. So quilters and quilt historians are grateful for the series of books featuring this remarkable collection. Previous books include Red and Green Quilts from the Poos Collection and Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection. All are currently available.

Pioneer Quilts evolved from a request for an exhibition on quilts that told the American pioneer story. The Introduction offers a brief history of the Westward expansion beginning with the 1803 Louisana Purchase. The authors turned to personal diaries to understand the experience of the arduous journey and life on the Plains. The authors have pioneer roots in Kansas and share their ancestral pioneer story. The quilts are presented through the story of a fictional pioneer woman, Esther Heinzmann.

This beautiful book full is full of color photographs that show the quilts in whole and in detail. There are gorgeous red, white, and green 19th c quilts including the appliqued Wagon Wheel and Oak Leaf (1860) and the pieced Delectable Mountains (1850). The Pomegranate with Star and Pot of Flowers Border, a circa 1860 quilt from Ohio, adds Cheddar to the red and green. The indigo and white circa 1850 Sunflower and Nine-Patch quilt is a stunner.

Pieced quilts include a circa 1880 Jacob's Ladder, Bear's Paw circa 1870, and Wild Goose Chase circa 1875. Tree of Life, Star of Bethlehem, various basket quilts, star quilts, and Log Cabin based quilts also appear.

Included in the book are five quilt projects in a variety of sizes and skill levels: Delectable Mountains (120" x 120"); Wild Goose Chase (72" x 83"); Cake Stand (57" x 70"); Red and White Nine Patch (85" x 85"); and Double Four-Patch Crib Quilt (34 1/2" x 42"). Each pattern includes everything you need to successfully complete your project, including step-by-step directions with illustrations.

An exciting  block of the month to recreated the gorgeous 1856 Friendship Quilt featured in Pioneer Quilts will be of great interest to quilters.

https://www.quiltandtextilecollections.com/blog/authors/lori-triplett
Pioneer Quilts, published by C&T Publications, will be available July 17, 2017.

From the publisher:
Storytelling quilts from the era of westward expansion
Join fictional character Esther Heinzmann as she narrates the journey through authentic, pioneer-era creations from the Poos Collection - each featured in full color on a 2-page spread. Ideal for traditional quilters and quilt history buffs, this robust offering of 30 antique quilts, plus 5 quilt projects that readers can recreate at home. Offering access to the authors' privately held family collection, this book gives an in-depth look at the importance of quilts to the pioneer life. As you view the quilts, you'll also read accounts of the Great Migration, including preparation for the long journey and a depiction of real life on the prairie. 
• Full quilt photos and detail shots allow you to appreciate the beauty of these handmade quilts up close• Remake history with included project instructions for 5 of the antique quilts• Learn about the authors' own pioneer ancestors

Learn more about the Poos collection, quilts, and even fabric at https://www.quiltandtextilecollections.com

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.