Quilt No.884NTNW - National Trust of Australia (NSW)

Description:
The body of this quilt is hexagons. This centre piece is surrounded by an applique border of birds and flowers and donkeys on see-saws. The flowers have been elaborately pieced from a great variety of materials. Some of the birds have pres studs for eyes.
History:
The quilt was made by Charlotte Housley in England probably about 1850. It came to Australia in 1989 and was donated to the National Trust in 1999 by Bob and Cynthia Brooks. It is now in the National Trust (NSW) collection.
Story:
Charlotte Housey (the maker) was Mrs. Brooks' (the donor) great-great aunt. Mrs. Brooks mother was born in 1911. Emma Housley was Charlotte's daughter. The machine stitching was done by Emma after Charlotte's death. The quilt came to Australia in 1989 with Mrs. Brooks after her mother's death. A second quilt existed but was thrown out by a family member years ago.
Related Quilts:
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Hexagon quilt in dress and shirting cottons constructed in frame style with a centre rosette of 7 patches surrounded by 4 borders of patterned hexagons alternating with cream patches. The quilt has an inner border of triangles then rows of rosettes alternating with cream patches. The outer border is triangles. There is no padding. The backing is cream linen and has had a 20th century white cotton sateen slipstitched to it.
2045 x 1940mm
2045 x 1940mm
Patchwork quilt or table covering dark and light silks in bright colours, pieced from diamond shapes into stars with black patches between the stars. Plain and patterned silks are used for the stars. Border is made from a single row of Tumbling Blocks in plain silks with an edging on each side of truncated black diamonds on blue on the inside, orange on the outer edge. There is a star pieced of diamonds in each corner. Hand sewn.
1830 x 1800mm
1830 x 1800mm
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2510 x 1850mm
2510 x 1850mm
Patchwork Quilt consisting of diamond shapes forming a Tumbling Block pattern. All cotton, mainly patterned pieces, with signs of blotting paper templates. Hand sewn. The outer border of patches consists of off-cuts from nurses' uniforms of the times as 2 of the maker's daughters were nurses. It is thought most other squares were probably from material samples from large city stores such as Anthony Horderns. Backing is red cotton in a paisley design.
2030 x 1890mm
2030 x 1890mm
Wool patches in large Tumbling Block pattern. Plain colours, blues, orange, gree, red. Seams are over embroidered with silk thread in herringbone stitch. Backing is 'Molleton', red with yellow pansy design.
2490 x 2236mm
2490 x 2236mm