Quilts

Norma Gilchrist
Quilt entirely made of hexagons joined to make 'flowers', 6 hexagons form the petals and one in the centre. The quilt is all cotton in a wide variety of colours in plains, checks and florals. The hexagons are all hand stitched using stranded cotton. There is a plain blue border of headcloth machined around the edge to the backing material. It is not quilted The materials were almost all from the scrap bag. Brown paper templates were used. This arrangement of hexagons is one variation of a pattern commonly called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'.
2040 x 1720mm
Travelling rug. Wool, cotton and velvet. Handsewn, partly filled with wool blanket and hessian. The top of this rug was originally a green crushed velvet overcoat. Various parts of the garment have been unstitched and spread out to form a flat surface.
2100 x 1050mm
Wholecloth quilt with top and backing of green and pink floral cretonne. The padding is machine pieced patches from old woollen blankets.
1440 x 1070mm
Pieced hand sewn quilt of hexagons. All cotton. 4 Hexagons make up a diamond. Materials are scraps from family clothing. The background is caramel poplin and the backing is cream sheeting. The quilt is signed on the back (in satin stitch) "Isabel C.D.Portus 1974" and "Jean C.D.Portus 1976".
2580 x 1950mm
Patchwork cot quilt, the top made from patterned and plain hexagons (110mm diam.) mainly in cottons, approx. 99 hexagons in total. Handsewn and stitched to a centre piece of material. Back is made of irregular pieces of cotton fabric, checks, florals, in squares or rectangles. Total of 3 layers in the quilt.
1310 x 1000mm
Ruth Wallace
A hand stitched top in randomly placed diamond shapes in mixed materials, mainly cottons. These are stitched to a flannelette backing. There is herringbone stitching around the border.
1250 x 930mm
Unfinished, hand stitched, polychromatic patchwork quilt in a tumbling block design. Constructed from silk fabrics and stitched with cotton yarns. Although crumpled and torn, the original paper squares are still in the back of the patchwork pieces. There is no padding. 1300 x 1300mm.
Norma Gilchrist
Cotton quilt with overall pattern of hexagons joined to make 'flowers'. Brown paper templates were used. All hexagons are hand stitched including on to the blue border which was then machined on to the same blue headcloth backing. The materials used were mainly scraps, including some from an aunt of the present owner, and are in a wide variety of patterns and colours. There is no quilting.
2110 x 1700mm
This quilt has both sides made of pale blue satin. The quilting pattern comprises a large daisy pattern in the centre, set in a square of diamonds and with a fan in each corner. The border has 2 rows of diamond shapes and 2 parallel lines. The padding is raw cotton.
2070 x 1740mm
Domestic Wagga with printed cover lined with jute throughout. 'Sent to Travellers aid at Spencer Street Station for delivery' [NWM]
1900 x 1220mm
Patricia Galbraith
Fur fabric quilt made from scraps cut into squares and put together randomly. Colous are black, several greys, browns and some blacks and dark greys are astrakhan. There is no padding and the backing is a grey cotton bush blanket. The quilt is tied with buttons and wool.
1753 x 1251mm
Migration Museum
Patchwork quilt in the Double Irish Chain pattern, made from deep pink and white cotton fabrics, with two borders, of pink then white, and bound with the dark pink. Cotton backing. Filling unknown. White squares appear to be outline quilted, white blocks between the chains have an intricate quilted star pattern, and the two borders are quilted with a single cable.
2500 x 2110mm
Patchwork cot quilt made from hexagon patches in cotton, linen, silk and wool. Checks, stripes, spots, florals and plain are used, in a mix of bright and pastel colours. Backing is of dark brown cotton with an edge of hexagon patches on each long side. No padding. Hand sewn.
1296 x 839mm
Large cot size or single bed quilt with the top of different size and shaped pieces arranged in a random fashion. The padding is old blankets stitched together and the backing is floral cotton.
2100 x 1400mm (approx)
Margaret-Anne M Thomas
Multi coloured square cotton pieces used to form a 'postage stamp' pattern. The squares are 25mm and the quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. There is a thin edge of brown on all sides. There is no padding and the backing is joined pieces of floral cotton.
2330 x 2130mm
Quilt made of squares of patchwork suiting, machine stitched with red diamond and rectangle motifs. Made of wool.
1950 x 1010mm
Embroiderers' Guild Victoria
Fine linen wholecloth quilt with all over cord quilting using back stitch and running stitch. The quilting is an elaborate pattern of flowers and leaves. It is a cradle or cot quilt. There is a cotton backing.
1030 x 840mm
This utilitarian quilt has a top of mainly woollen used clothing randomly pieced in different sizes and shapes. It includes parts of a jumper, a pocket, a sleeve, the back of a coat, a trouser leg, a piece of 'railway issue' blanket. There are many layers and each layer is stitched together by hand. There is no difference between the padding and the top, it is all layers of pieces of clothes. The backing is an old cotton sheet.
1620 x 1300mm
Crazy patchwork quilt made from pieces of velvets, plush and corduroy, in prints and plain. Patches are sewn directly on to a backing with feather and herringbone stitches in pearl thread. Quilt has a 1/2 inch binding of black velvet. Backing is a pea green cotton twill. One of the patches has the dates 1909 - 1948 embroidered on it.
920 x 920mm
Cot quilt. Single piece of floral cotton material top and back (cream background with coloured flowers). The padding is a single layer, twill weave, heavy bag, probably jute. The layers are fixed with a different coloured button in each corner. Machine quilting across the centre
1320 x 1140mm

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