Quilts

June Dean
Pieced hexagons, English paper method. Large hexagons form the centre with a border of smaller hexagons. The fabrics are all cotton in a wide range of colours and patterns. There is no padding. The backing is cotton, large white floral design on dark blue. The hexagons are hand pieced and the edges machined.
2480 x 1420 mm
National Trust of Australia (SA)
Hand stitched unfinished crazy quilt with patches placed around a centre hexagon pieced in log cabin type strips. Materials are mainly silks and satins and pieces are mounted on grey cotton material. Seams are overstitched in herringbone stitch. 1520 x 760mm
June Brown
Wholecloth quilt made from rayon/damask style fabric golden brown in colour with a raised stylised floral motif. Quilted to the self pattern of the fabric. Hand quilted, backing is of gold coloured fabric.
Cotton wadding showing through worn areas.
1810 x 1250mm
Margaret Wright
Crazy patchqork quilt, handsewn, composed of six large squares of patches in brocade, velvet and silk in random shapes and sizes. Patches are stitched to others by blanket stitch in yellow thread. Some patches have surface embroidery, e.g. a dragonfly, flowers, music notes, and names, 'Minnie', 'Loyetta' (house in Ballarat), 'Diana'. There are also five small cream bobbles. Colours are red, gold, brown, pinks, greens and blues. Padding is flannel, and quilt is backed and edged with maroon or burgundy ribbed silk.
1461mm x 687mm
South Australian Museum
Wallaby skin rug of small rectangles stitched together with sinew. The back of the rug has been scored in diamond patterns.
Barbara Levy
"The quilt is made up of many cotton hexagons of various colours, patterns and designs, finely sewn by hand, making a very attractive bedspread. Each patch is lined with lawn. It is quite a heavy quilt, with its plain border, and backing of home-spun cotton or cesarine. The family always called it a 'cottage design'."
No quilting.
2312 x 1905mm
Ann Cuthbert
Patchwork quilt of hexagons in pattern known as 'Grandmother's flower garden'. All cotton. Rosettes are set in a white 'path' with the centre and first ring in solid colours and the second ring prints. There is a yellow border and an outer border in pink. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. The padding is cotton and the backing is white cotton with 2 border edges in light and dark blue. These borders were originally part of the top. There is an inscription "Dear daughter from Mother".
2390 x 1880mm
Mare Carter
Child's Patchwork quilt of pieced repeat blocks in red print and white cotton, in 'Bow Tie' pattern. Qult has cotton backing, and wool filling. Some patches are fraying. The quilt has 'Mary Lactitia Thompson' embroidered on it.
1905 x 1296mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Machine pieced top of squares of part jumpers, most hand knitted. The padding is a blanket. The backing is an old curtain.
1735 x 1350mm
National Trust of Australia (WA)
Hand sewn quilt (possibly child's or table top) of crazy patchwork in silk, silk ribbon and cotton velvet. The top has surface decoration of embroidery on all seams, feather stitch and blanket stitch variations. Many of the crazy patches are also embroidered. The centre patch has a rooster embroidered in lame thread. Embroidered motifs are hearts, butterflies, guitar, cow, Little Red Riding Hood, horseshoes, crown, clover leaf. Stitches are feather, stem, satin and blanket. Embroidered initials are 'B', 'R', and 'S'. The backing is dark grey silk.
840 x 840mm
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Wholecloth cot quilt, reversible, both sides pale pink rayon printed with small bunches of pink roses, blue flowers and green leaves. Outside edge is machine sewn except for opening for filling which is slip stitched. Quilted by hand with large stitches in pink thread along width and length of quilt. The padding is wool.
815 x 570mm
National Trust of Australia (WA)
Patchwork quilt in Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, consisting of 7 patch rosettes with white 'paths'. Cotton dress and shirting materials have been used in blues, pinks, brown, turkey red and Prussian blue. The quilt is hand sewn and each hexagon is 25mm wide. The backing is cream twill cotton in three panels. There is a hand sewn binding in red/pink cotton. There is overall quilting in chevron or zigzag pattern.
2415 x 2110mm
Meg Orr
All over pattern of rows of hexagons with each unit made up of 4 hexagons each 45mm. Patterned and plain materials thought to date from the 1930s including cotton and linen dress materials, synthetics and synthetic crepe. It was an unfinished top and Meg Orr, the present owner, finished it by machine stitching some of the hexagon rosettes to the red twill background and stitching on a backing. There is no padding.
1740 x 1210mm.
Susan Shannon
This hand pieced and hand quilted hexagon quilt is in a pattern often called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'. The background is white and there are concentric rows of double rosettes each with a yellow centre. The colours start in the centre of the quilt with pink and then follow the rainbow. Paper templates were used. The padding is cotton (American) and the backing is cotton floral poplin.
2360 x 1730mm
National Trust of Australia (WA)
Silk and velvet frame quilt with centre patchwork block of squares and triangles with a top and bottom border of silk in Royal Stewart tartan. This rectangular centre frame is surrounded by plain and 'saw tooth' (triangles) borders. The outer border is dark grey silk embroidered in pastels in stem stitch in a meandering vine and leaf pattern. There is no padding or quilting. Backing originally of mustard wool material machine stitched along turned in edges. Dark red cotton is attached to original backing.
2015 x 1320mm
Melinda Smith
Wholecloth cover in synthetic rayon. Centre plain, drop slightly gathered, edging border is large saw tooth appliqued pieces in flannelette, striped seersucker, crepe de chine. Materials typical of the 30s through to the 50s. The appliqued triangles are chain stitched in yellow thread which also anchors them to the backing.
2450 x 1940mm
Maria Alexakis
Wholecloth quilt. Quilting pattern is a large 'feathered thistle' with thick stem, as the main design feature. The border is a combination of straight and curved parallel lines. Burgundy sateen with damask weave. All quilting is handstitched. Padding is cotton wadding and backing is tomato red cotton. 2150 x 1820 mm.
Mare Carter
Quilt of alternate green and fawn squares (100mm) in knitted fabric, originally swatches of sample fabrics. Padding is a piece of old blanket. Backing is fawn flannelette, and the quilt is finished with a flannelette ruffle.
1423 x 1124mm
Muriel Hartmann
Old jute wool pack opened out and joined together selvedge to selvedge. Ends bound with recycled curtain material.
1550 x 1321mm
Barbara McCabe
Patchwork quilt made from squares of woollen fabric scraps from dressmaking. Squares are stitched together in no particular order. Colours are bright, with pink, yellow, green, brown and light blue predominating. Fabric is plain, checks and stripes. No padding or quilting. Backing is a cotton bedspread, striped in pinks and magenta.
2530 x 1640mm

Pages