Quilt No.381FB - Fay Burgess

Fay Burgess
Owner: 
Fay Burgess
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Eliza Hillyard and Ellen Page-Knight
Made in
ENGLAND
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
Hexagonal piece of patchwork made up of 9 rows of rosettes of hexagons in a wide variety of colours and patterns mainly in silks and velvets. It is incomplete. Backing papers are still in the outside rows and also basting threads. Hexagons are joined by fine whip stitching. It is unlined.
1370 x 1220mm
History: 

Eliza Hillyard commenced the cover in England pre 1914. It was brought to Australia in 1914 when Eliza's daughter Ellen and her husband Tom (Thomas Montague Page-Knight) emigrated with their 4 children, Alice Maude, Vera, Beatrice Lucy and Charles Arthur. Ellen added rows of velvet and silk hexagons to Eliza's work. Ellen's daughter, Alice Maude , continued the work adding additional rows of hexagons. These are now the outer layer and still have some basting threads and papers in place. It is thought that Maude's work was in the 1930s and 1940s. The present owner, Fay Burgess, was given the work by her aunt Maude (Keage). Fay is the daughter of Vera May McGeachan (born Knight).

Story: 

Eliza Worth (later Hillyard) b. 1886 was a needlewoman to Queen Victoria, mending linen. Her daughter Ellen (later Knight) made corsets and it is thought that some of the silk hexagons were from off cuts of corsets. Maude, born 1911, had a business as a dressmaker and made dresses for women married at Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney.
The present owner has a basket of pieces from the quilt and also Eliza's work bag with her initials embroidered on it.

Rt: Ellen Knight c.1905, Centre: Alice Keage c.1932, Lt: Eliza Worth
Rt: Ellen Knight c.1905, Centre: Alice Keage c.1932, Lt: Eliza Worth

Related Quilts:

Margery Smith
Quilt No.359MS - Margery Smith
Patchwork cot quilt made from hexagons 63mm across in a variety of cotton prints and plains. The bright coloured patches came from children's clothes and dressmaking scraps. No padding. Backing of unbleached calico. Hand sewn.
1524 x 1169mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
The Queensland Women's Historical Assoc.
Quilt No.100QWH - The Queensland Women's Historical Assoc.
Cotton quilt , octagons of printed floral joined with squares of printed and plain. Yellow floral border. Cotton backing with very intrictae pattern in machine stitching.
2540 x 2490mm
Patchwork, Mosaic
National Gallery of Australia
Quilt No.965NGA - National Gallery of Australia
"This quilt follows the traditional hexagon patchwork pieced pattern, which are then joined and sometimes edged with a contrasting border. The edges of the quilt have been turned and then scalloped edges made of identical patches to the main body of the quilt have been attached to the edge. The quilt is fully lined, and the lining is visible front the front face through the gaps between the scalloped edge. The lining is attached to the patchwork with a row of stitches along the edges; there are no stitches in the centre field. The fabrics of the quilt are plain weave cotton in simple floral and geometric designs. Most of the fabrics are monochromatic. Several different colour ways of the same fabric are evident which could suggest some fabrics were from manufacturer samples. The lining is a William Morris print.
Each of the patchwork pieces (there are several thousand present) are sewn together with very fine overcasting stitches. The quilt is entirely hand sewn. There is some evidence that templates from the hexagon pieces possibly blotting paper, remain in situ���The quilt is not padded or quilted. The lining is fine twill weave cotton printed in pink and pale purple. The design follows William Morris's 'Strawberry Thief design'." [NGA] 2075 x 1911mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Ella Jarvis
Quilt No.242EJ - Ella Jarvis
Quilt made with a rectangular centre panel of cotton fabric printed with red poppies and black flowers in a japanese style. The panel is surrounded by a wide black satin border. The backing is of black cotton, covering a previous backing of green floral cotton fabric. The padding is feathers.
1700 x 1370mm
Patchwork, Frame
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.622PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut
Patchwork top with a centre frame of a mauve cross outlined in black within a square bordered with pink. The rest of the top is rectangles and squares in a wide variety of materials. There is no padding. The backing is brown, possibly curtain material.
1910 x 1480mm
Patchwork, Frame
Annette Gero
Quilt No.859AG - Annette Gero
Hand pieced log cabin quilt in silks, satins and velvets. There is a silk backing machined on, possiby a later addition. The quilt has over 5000 pieced.
1820 x 1680mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Log Cabin, Pieced Random