Quilt No.758PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Powerhouse Museum
Owner: 
Powerhouse Museum
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Caroline Mary West
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1921 - 1940
Description: 
"A tied patchwork wagga quilt made from swatches of men's wool suiting fabrics in blue/grey and pink/brown tonings. Rectangular swatches have been cut in half diagonally, and the resulting right-angled triangles paired to form larger equilateral triangles which alternate dark with light across the field. The quilt has been machine and hand pieced, then machined in vertical stripes.
The centre field is bounded by two strip-pieced borders at top and bottom, and three down each side. These are sewn from rectangles, using light pink/brown tones for the inner border and darker colours for the...
History: 

The quilt was made by Caroline Mary West about 1930 on a property near Trundle NSW in about 1930. It was handed down through the women of the family, to her grandson Mr. Ian Foster of Newport. Ian Foster gave the quilt to the Powerhouse Museum in 1985.

Story: 

"The quilt was made by Mrs. Caroline Mary West (nee Bray) in about 1930. Caroline was born on the 14 June 1872 and married a grazier, Everett Pearson West, in 1904. They lived on a property near Trundle, in the centre-west of New South Wales and had six children, four boys and two girls between 1905 and 1915. The quilt is thought to have been made in the 1920s or early 1930s during the Depression. The woollen suiting fabrics used to make the quilt were obtained from Tom Ellis, the local tailor. Caroline Mary West died on 19 March 1947." [PHM]

Related Quilts:

Margery Creek
This utility quilt is mainly constructed from long strips of cotton seed sack material. It is machine pieced and quilted by hand in a diagonal pattern. There is a red border. The backing is cotton flannelette and the padding is cotton.
1601 x 1525mm
National Trust of Australia (TAS)
Crazy patchwork quilt of pieces of plain and patterned silks in bright and pastel colours, each patch edged and decorated with a variety of embroidery stitches, including star, spider, french knot and feather and herringbone variations. 2 patches of early aniline dyed blue silk. Motifs of tennis racquet, horse shoes, fan and some embroidered flowers. The patches are stitched to coarse linen. There is a wide border of red plush velvet turned to the underside. There is no padding. The backing is red polished cotton.
1550 x 1435mm
Albury Regional Museum
Patchwork quilt or cloth made from pieces of woollen material used for regimental uniforms in England last century. Star pattern in colours, red, pale blue, green, maroon, yellow [white] and brown. Hand pieced probably by more than one person. Red fringe machined on. Red flannelette backing in poor condition. Two layers, not quilted.
1780 x 1700mm
Ann Hockey
Patchwork quilt made of small squares pieced from four triangles. Each square is 90mm and is joined to the others by a herringbone lacing in yellow rayon crochet thread, so making an open mesh between each square. The quilt is edged with thick yellow rayon corded braid. Each square is backed with gold coloured cotton. No padding.
1730 x 1430mm
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
The Pioneer Women's Hut
The top is a wholecloth piece of twill type cotton and the backing is a wholecloth piece of finer patterned cotton. The padding is a layer of pieces of used clothing stitched together, including part jumpers, some darned. These are inside an old folded blanket.
1540 x 950mm