Quilt No.784CN - Charlotte Nattey

Charlotte Nattey
Owner: 
Charlotte Nattey
Location: 
ACT
Maker
Maker: 
Edith Millington
Made in
IRELAND Cookstown
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
The quilt top combines various scarps of silk in an informal pattern of flowers made from individual silk petals with a large flower in the centre. There is crazy patchwork in between the flowers. The pieces are sewn on with feather stitch, blanket stitch and satin stitch. There is a 37cm ruffle on the two long sides. There is no padding and the backing is silk.
2140 x 1550mm
History: 

The quilt was made by Edith Mary Millington at Lissan Rectory at Cookstown, Northern Ireland c.1920. It is thought to include parts of her wedding dress dyed and sewn in. It was made for her neice Mildred Millington born 1910. It is now owned by the maker's grand-daughter Charlotte Nattey.

Story: 

"This quilt is totally different from the one done by my grandmother and reflects both changing times and the obviously different character of mother and daughter. This quilt is obviously made by eye and not strict measurements - the stitches are randomly different as the mood took her. It is still very fresh in colour and must have been quite vibrant. I'm sure that it is again scraps of clothing that she utilised.
I knew her as a child as a warm hearted interested woman with wonderful white hair.
She married a country Rector in Northern Ireland and threw herself into community life. She was renowned for always doing things in a rush and maybe forgetting something in the process - this quilt reflects her personality very well.
Life must have been pretty idyllic; no huge income was needed to have 3 or more 'staff' and those to run the farm that came with the Rectory. Food and produce was grown and stored and was used for church fetes etc. There was time for tennis and tea parties and the stories from both my aunt and father reflect an easy life style with time both to laugh and reflect. There was of course a lot of obligation and duty - no time off for holidays and Sunday school, Mothers' Institute, the Girls Friendly Society etc. all to be run."
[Charlotte Nattey 6.4.97]

Edith Mary Millington
Edith Mary Millington
Lissan Rectory, Northern Ireland
Lissan Rectory, Northern Ireland

Related Quilts:

Margery Creek
Snow Ball' cotton quilt made in the USA. Feed bag materials and dress materials. Hand pieced and hand quilted. Calico border and backing.
2058 x 2007mm
National Trust of Australia (TAS)
Small rectangular bed cover, probably child's or even doll's, made from rectangles of cream linen stitched together with hand sewn french seams. The top surface is decorated with small squares and rectangles of coloured silk, velvet, wool and cotton attached approximately 25mm apart, with 3 stitches in centre of patch to attach to background. Bright pink wool patches stand out.
935 x 635mm
Nancy Dunlap
Repeat block in wedding ring pattern. All cottons with cream background and mainly pale mauve and green dressmaking prints in wedding rings. Green border and cream calico backing. The padding is cotton. 1800 x 210mm.
Busselton Historical Society
The strip quilt is handsewn and quilted. Quilt top has 13 panels or strips of 3 different cotton lawn floral prints. Some fabrics are now wearing. Backing is of plain white cotton. The padding is wool. Quilting features a triple row cable design with flower motifs.
2100 x 1800mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Handsewn quilt of hexagon patches in cotton prints in 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern. Each flower consists of double rows of print hexagons around a yellow centre and these are joined by 'paths' in plain green and white cotton. Backing is green cotton and there is a wool padding. There is outline quilting around all green and white hexagons and centre and first row of hexagons in flowers.
1885 x 1750mm
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