Typically Australian Quilts

Ida Blenkiron
Wholecloth quilt with back and front of red, blue and yellow cotton floral print and padding made from jumpers, wool skirts, etc. Machine quilted.
1050 x 840mm
Fran Williams
All cotton top and backing. Machine construction. Patches, mainly rectangles, joined in strips and then the strips joined to form the top. The back is a similar construction but larger pieces. The padding is made from lots of hand and machine knitted woollen pieces, including jumpers. Black check binding. It is very heavy. It is not quilted. It is not used. The owner calls it a Wagga.
1340 x 1610mm
Win Groves
Patchwork quilt made from squares of wool and cotton fabrics, from dressing gown material, skirts, and corduroy. Machine sewn onto a cotton counterpane woven in stripes of red, blue, black on white. Colours of fabrics are red, blue, yellow, white and grey, with a dark grey check. Sewn on a treadle sewing machine.
2250 x 2050mm
Laurel Thompson
Quilt made of squares and rectangles of woollen fabric (coating material) in plain, check and woven patterns, in dark bright colours. The backing is a grey wool blanket and the quilt is bound by a light cotton fabric which has frayed. Machine stitched.
1910 x 1530mm
Barbara Bullock
This Adelaide Chronicle quilt or cover is made from white cotton headcloth. A double band of green headcloth 105mm wide is attached with hemstitching. The top is divided into 225 x 210mm blocks also with green hemstitching. Each alternate block features stylised leatherwood flower and leaves and is embroidered in apricot stranded cotton. The alternate blocks feature other Australian wild flowers. The cover is entirely hand sewn. There is no backing.
2170 x 1970mm
Alys Mercer
This Adelaide Chronicle quilt or bedcover is single thickness white linen with a double thickness wide green border hemstitched in place. The cover is divided into blocks and in each alternate block an Australian bird has been worked in fancywork using stranded cottons.
2019 x 1144mm
Fran Williams
Mainly cotton top and backing, some silks and satins. Machine construction. Patches, mainly rectangles, joined in strips and then the strips joined to form the top. The back is a similar construction but larger pieces. The padding is made from lots of hand and machine knitted woollen pieces, including jumpers. It is very heavy. It is not quilted. It is not used. The owner calls it a Wagga.
1200 x 1630mm
Annette Gero
The top of the quilt is suiting samples arranged in rows and every second row has alternate dark and light cream rectangles. The back is a patchwork of dress materials. It is machine sewn. There is no padding and it is not quilted.
2160 x 135mm
Max Robertson
This traditional Wagga rug is made from 4 jute wheat bags joined lengthwise (upopened) by sewing with a bag needle and twine. It did not have a cover. In the 1950s it was covered with striped cottage twill on both sides. Originally there was no padding and now the bags are the padding.
1950 x 1130mm
Jean Gilbert
Rectangular pieces made from tailors' swatches and machine pieced in strips. Some pieces darned. Main colours blue, grey and brown. No padding. Backing is floral cotton with orange and brown flowers.
1879 x 1220mm
Margaret Eisenhauer
Wholecloth quilt covered with floral cretonne both sides, deep pink and yellow flowers on cream background. Padding is hessian/jute type bags joined.
One of a pair but the other one is smaller.
1800 x 1325mm
The Embroiderers' Guild of S.A.Inc Museum
An Adelaide Chronicle bird quilt. Alternate squares of green and fawn headcloth embroidered with native birds in fawn squares, butterflies in outline, beige threads, in green squares. Bordered and backed with the same green fabric. It is padded.
2390 x 1530mm
Win Groves
Wholecloth quilt with front and back of green and white check gingham. The filling is made from jumpers, suitings, warm skirts etc. Machine sewn.
1800 x 1050mm
Kristine Gray
The original quilt has had 3 covers, 2 of which are still on it. The first quilt, a domestic Wagga, is made from pea seed bags and an old sheet covered with red paisley cretonne. This has been recovered with a red/yellow/brown paisley cotton twill in a pillow slip construction. One side of the next outer cover has a strong vibrant loosley floral pattern with a black background and a border in black, yellow and aqua. The other side is a large piece of cotton with a pattern of abstract rectangles and there are other floral and geometric cotton pieces. There was a fourth layer, a slip cover that is no longer on the quilt.
David Beasley
Pictorial quilt, pieced randomly from wool. Hand appliqued and embroidered. It has a central Miss Muffet theme with the spider and cattle under a tree. There is a 'Centenary Border 1836 - 1936' and an inscription 'Good Times, Let's Look Back'. The backing is 2 pieces of plaid suiting in grey/blues.
2000 x 1490mm
Di Tement
Leather buggy rug constructed from hundreds of squares each 60mm. There is a pink band of the same size squares 3 rows in from each border. There is no padding. The backing is a towelling type material. 1140 x 1700mm
Nancy Stinson
This quilt is one of a pair. The original padding by Sara Harborne consists of layers of pieced used clothing including; part of Sara's shawl (gold), part cream woollen blanket, part 'neck to knee' bathers pink and black/blue. Later additions by Nancy Stinson (daughter) are; orange pieces (part of husband Logan's pullover) and 2 bunny rugs made by Nancy's sister Enid. The padding has had 2 cotton wholecloth covers, the second one put on by Nancy in 1980.
1730 x 1020mm
Sheila Bruhn
Quilt constructed of blocks of hexagons with 72 'flower' rosettes made from plain and printed cotton scraps. The centre of each rosette has the name of one of the Girl Guides embroidered on it. The one in the centre of the quilt has the Trefoil insignia outlined in satin stitch. The background is white hexagons. There is no padding and it is backed with white cotton. 1880 x 960mm
Mrs Noleen Carthew
A pictorial quilt entitled 'A Farmer's Home'. Wool, squares and oblongs pieced randomly. On these are appliqued pieces depicting aspects of family and farm life including the farm house, washing on the line, sheep, cattle, kangaroos. It is all hand sewn apart from the backing which is machined directly on to the top. The backing is red paisley cotton.
2090 x 1600mm
Australian War Memorial
"Quilt made up of 66 embroidered squares, each 'signed' in embroidery with the maker(s) name. All the squares are edged with turkey red chain-stitch. The squares are bounded by a broad white cotton border, and the same material has been used as a backing. The back of the quilt has black embroidery stating 'Presented by the women of Changi internment camp 2602 (the number of the Japanese year corresponding with our 1942) to the wounded Nipponese soldiers with our sympathy for their suffering. It is our wish that on the cessation of hostilities that this quilt be presented to the Japanese Red Cross Society. It is advisable to dry clean this quilt." [Australian War Memorial]
2090 x 1360mm

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