Quilt No.508JR - Name withheld

Name withheld
Owner: 
Name withheld
Location: 
Tasmania
Made in
Unknown
Date: 
1851 - 1880
Description: 
Quilt top in postage stamp pattern typical of military quilts. 5 x 5 blocks each 280 x 280mm. Colours are predominantly red, black and cream. Thought to have been made using uniform material from the Crimean war
1350 x 1350mm
History: 

The quilt was left to the present owner by Miss Willis, a friend. A note was pinned to it "This rug was made by wounded soldiers from the Crimean war who, being destitute, cut up their uniforms and made them into rugs which were sold to benefit the men." Miss Willis died in 1977 in Burnie Tasmania.

Story: 

The present owner's family lived close to Miss Willis for many years. She had only one brother who died long before her and no children. The owner writes: "She was a very clever woman with a huge variety of craft-work. I was an only child and when I was a little girl she made me the most beautiful doll's clothes and blankets and sheets for my doll's cradle, frilled pillowslips with lemon bows and later she made me a huge wardrobe of clothes for my teenage doll collection. They are so beautiful and detailed. She was a very clever needle-worker. She was also a keen gardener with a great knowledge of plants. She was also a very talented painter. We have 5 of her paintings framed now. They were painted in the 1920s. When I was little Miss Willis wrote me several short stories and illustrated them and made them into books for me. They featured my pet cat and her pet cat.
Miss Willis' great, great grandfather settled in Van Diemans Land in the 1820s with his family and built a fine Georgian home near Campbelltown. I have absolutely no idea from which side of her family the quilt came from, but recently I read in a Tasmanian history book that when called upon to help financially after the Crimean war, Tasmanians responded very well - so maybe it was then that the quilt arrived in the family - however if this is the case it doesn't answer why it has never been lined and padded. (It is the top only.)." [Quilt owner 4.3.1997]

Related Quilts:

National Trust of Australia (TAS)
Quilt top of hexagonal patches in silk and velvet in colours of brown, black, soft green, maroon, light yellow and blue. Some materials self patterned. Blue backing papers can be seen at edges behind some patches.
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Pieced patchwork quilt of hexagons in cottons, chintzes and linen. The centre is pieced in 6 point hexagon stars, then radiating out are large hexagons alternating with tumbling blocks, then 6 piece hexagon stars and 4 piece hexagon diamonds. Some pieces have Egyptian patterns dating from 1800 - 1805. The backing is cream linen.
2450 x 2200mm
June Brown
Pieces of heavy woollen material have been strip pieced and then joined. The joined pieces have then been folded over and restitched along the sides to make a double sided quilt. It is very heavy.
1830 x 1400mm
Yass & District Historical Society
Patchwork quilt made of approx. 730 Suffolk Puffs, using mainly cotton materials in florals and plains. Each puff is 45mm diameter. The quilt centre has a square of 16 pink puffs outlined with a single row of blue puffs. Each corner of the quilt has a square of 9 puffs in a single colour. No padding. Quilt is edged and backed with a red and white tartan cotton.
Cobram Shire Historical Society
Patchwork quilt in Log Cabin pattern, arranged in 'furrows', and made from cottons, wool and suiting fabrics. Centres of blocks are pastel or dark; dark colours are black, brown, purple blue and red. Pastel side of blocks includes a bright pink. Quilt backing is pieced, with a centre rectangle of cotton surrounded by 5 borders of plain and alternate rectangular pieced strips, in wool and suiting fabrics. Colours are black, dark blue, brown, green, grey and pastels. Inner lining is of cotton pieces, to which the Log Cabin blocks have been machined.
1620 x 1360mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt made in the USA. The pattern is 'Double Irish Chain'. It is machine pieced and hand quilted. The backing is calico and the padding is cotton,
2134 x 2134mm