Quilts

Jean Winchester
Patchwork quilt of hexagon patches with a large central group of 14 rows, then groups or 'flowers' of 6 patches placed over the rest of the quilt. The colours are red, black, white and blue, in a mixture of stripes, florals and plains. No padding. Backing is a double bed sheet. Hand sewn.
2591 x 2566mm
Ruth Flett
Quilt is made of wool tailors' samples, each measuring 6 x 3 1/2 inches. The colours are predominantly navy and grey. Most pieces are striped but some more distinctly than others. Both sides are mad eof smaples, one side being mainly grey and the other almost exclusively navy. There doesn't seem to be another layer of material as padding. There is no added decoration. Made on a treadle sewing machine.
1703 x 1423mm
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
Wholecloth quilt, yellow sateen both sides. Hand quilted in geometric and curvilinear patterns. Edges turned in, hand finished. Stuffed with flock-like material said by the donor to be wool. Approximately 2.5cm thick.
2500 x 2000mm.
West Australian Quilters' Association
The quilt is a repeat block in the Ohio Star pattern in turkey red and cream. Quilted in squares in the cream block and diagonal lines in the star block. The fabric border is disintegrating. The backing is cream calico and the padding is cotton, badly degraded. 1940 x 1760mm.
Teona Smith
Suffolk Puff or puff-ball quilt is made from scraps of dresses and pyjamas, mainly cottons, but also taffeta lining fabric, net, lurex, flocked organdie. The quilt is in bright clear colours, the fabric mostly in small prints, ginghams, different size spots, a few large prints, Chinese brocade, nylon. Puffs are 5cm across, and set 31 puffs across by 45 down. Puffs are squared off when whipstitched together, so corner holes are smaller than usual.
2180 x 1500mm
Jeanette Marchant
Quilt of hand stitched cotton hexagon patches, the hexagons are in groups of 7 to form flowers, with white or cream 'paths'. The quilt centre has 19 flowers grouped within a single hexagon border of brown and red patches. In each corner of the quilt there are 6 flowers grouped around a larger flower within a single border of darker print hexagon patches. Backing is cream cotton, machine stitched to the top. There is no padding or quilting. Some fabric patches have deteriorated.
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Skin rug made from feral cat skins and probably some wallaby pelts. There are 28 individual skins and colours are dark brown, creamy yellow and striped and spotted light and dark brown and cream. One cat pelt measures 495mm. The striped and spotted skins indicate tabby cats. The backing is maroon felt extended to form a pinked and scalloped edge. The top is attached to the backing with hand stitching incorporating faded red ric-rac braid along the seamline on the back. 1680 x 1300mm
Josephine Curtis
Taylor's sample quilt made from men's suit swatches, mainly greys and blues. Edging is 6cms wide, of blue flannelette. Padding is an old grey blanket, and the backing is of printed pattern corduroy. 1680 x 920 mm.
Ruth Hansen
Quuilt constructed from large pieces of used clothing pieced together to form the top. There are layers of under shirts once used by the maker's father and also by her husband Bill. The backing is an old cream blanket.
1700 x 1200mm
Ella Jarvis
Wholecloth quilt of pink satin with machine qulting in squares across the main part of the quilt, and two rows of two lots of stitching around the wide border. The quare pattern on the quilt top is overlaid with a grid of applied thick white braid. Backing of cotton. Padding appears to be enclosed in white cotton. Fragile condition.
1650 x 1370mm
Wangaratta Historical Society
9 large blocks of crazy patchwork in silks and velvets. The blocks are divided by strips of deep ruby coloured silk. There is a wide ruby border with peaks to which is attached cream lace. The backing is beige silk. The main blocks are outlined with feather stitch in gold thread and many individual patches are outlined in fancy stitches and have embroidered motifs some of which are Australian eg centre patch has Sturt's Desert Pea flowers, parrots, wattle. There are also English flowers, Japanese motifs, flags, domestic objects and Marianne's initials. Embroidery is in a variety of threads including chenille.
2250 x 2180mm
Art Gallery of South Australia
Rectangular patchwork crazy quilt pieced in squares (3 across by 4 down), in silks and wool, with red sashing between blocks and red border, quilted. Colours are dark, with red and light blue. Embroidery includes double feather, rope, herringbone, satin, cross, sword edge, buttonhole and coral stitches, and French knots. Embroidered flowers include lily of the valley, rose, daisy, and sunflower, also butterflies. Backing is pieced in the frame style, with a large centre red square, within 10 frames or borders. Embroidered "In Most Loving Memory of My Darling 1883", "V.H.B." Hand sewn.
1900 x 1500mm
Bill & Barbara Meynink
Patchwork quilt made from brightly coloured printed cotton fabrics in hexagon patches hand sewn together in rosettes, and stitched by machine onto a border of bright teal blue fabric. Fabric scraps for the patchwork were donated from friends. No padding. Backing is polished cotton curtain lining.
2312 x 1969mm
Bruce Wright
Skin rug made from 50-60 rabbit skins in various colours, pieced in a diamond pattern. Dark diamond in centre, a diamond of dark honey colour, then a band of dark, another of dark honey, a band of grey, a band of honey, with corner triangles of grey. Rug is backed with blue felt, and has a scalloped edge of blue felt. Hand sewn. Skins tanned with wattle bark tanning solution. 1550 x 1300mm
Red Cliffs Historical Society
Garland with berries appliqued on wholecloth quilt of off white cotton. The backing is whole cloth in soft green. The garland (ribbon appearance) is in floral patterned green. The red berries are padded. It is machine quilted. Dacron type padding.
1820 x 1500mm
Joyce Lannin
Hand sewn patchwork quilt with a pattern of blue stars. Each star consists of hexagons in the centre with part diamonds forming the star shape. The quilt is made from scraps. It is not padded and the backing is cotton and has a hexagon star border. 2660 x 2470 mm
Evelyn McAlister
Quilt made from dressmaking materials in a design probably made up by the maker but resembling 'Courthouse Steps'. The outer border of each block is mitred. Originally it was reversible but during restoration the back was brought to the front, doubling the size of the quilt. The padding is old woollen materials. The backing is a new piece of floral material. It is now machine quilted.
1830 x 1220mm
Janine and Eva Chick
Hexagon quilt, hand sewn, using a wide variety of patterned and plain cotton scraps left over from dressmaking. 6 hexagons are placed around a centre one. There is no padding. The backing is brown flannel turned over to the front with hexagons hand stitched to it.
1220 x 763mm
Kay Jones
Quilt top with English piecing in a star in polygon pattern. English and French cotton fabrics in a wide variety of patterns and plains constructed over papers with the tacking still in tact. Papers are mainly part envelopes some with stamps and post dated 1898. 2200 x 1800mm
National Gallery of Australia
"This all white quilt has a front face of fine white plain weave cotton. The quilt is lined with brushed cotton twill. The two layers are quilted with white cotton thread across the entire surface with rows of zigzag stitching 16-20mm apart.
The edges of the quilt have been cut to form scallops and the raw edges here are secured with a binding of fabric similar to that used on the front face of the quilt. All work on the quilt appears to be hand sewn." [NGA] The quilt is not padded. 2655 x 2150mm

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