Quilts

A cradle quilt. All cotton. In the tradition of the previous quilts made by Eva Leota Towe. Never used.
1017 x 813mm
Quilt of [cotton], with geometric pattern of squares and triangles in primary colours. Tassels attached.
2320 x 1490mm
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
Quilt covered in pink and green paisley cotton material. The backing is cotton. The quilting is machined in parallel rows around the sides and in the centre in a scalloped design. The centre panel corners are finished with pink buttonhole stitching around a small hole. The filling is down.
1750 x 1400mm
Quilt top is of squares, approximately 180mm, made from a variety of fabrics including fine corduroy. It is hand pieced, and hand embroidered around each square with feather stitch, using blue embroidery cotton. 2380 x 2000 mm. 2380 x 2000 mm.
"The quilt is of plain weave white cotton, quilted with white cotton thread. The design is 288 squares following the log cabin design. The lining is a fine white cotton.
The edges of the front face and the lining have been turned, and positioned within this seam is a ruffle. This ruffle is of very fine muslin with 2 rows of pin tucks along the edge. The ruffle runs along all edges of the quilt." [NGA] The quilt is not padded and is lined with white cotton fabric. 2400 x 2140mm
Quilt, in 2 parts, made from samples of different coloured velvets. It has 2 layers and is machine made. It became too heavy to sew on a domestic sewing machine so was constructed in two separate pieces. There is no padding.
2370 x 1550mm and 2230 x 800mm
"The quilt is made of white cotton, slightly padded, and measures 150 x 75cms. The pattern is made up of a large circular design in the centre with smaller circles around the edge, with close lines of running stitches in white cotton outlining the design." [ Victor Harbour National Trust]
Wholecloth quilt of floral cretonne with ballerina design. Top and backing are the same material. The padding is old blankets. It is machine stitched. 1430 x 1170mm
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.
Skin rug believed to be platypus pelts, 28 in all. It has a brown cotton backing. 1300 x 900mm
Log cabin quilt with 90mm squares in cotton materials, white (or cream), faded blacks, dark blues, reds and browns. All the strips are very narrow. No actual padding as such but the quilt is fairly thick because with such narrow strips, there is so much seam allownace. The backing is a light calico.
1715 x 1575mm
Machine pieced patchwork top of Tailor's samples with a backing of patches of furnishing materials. There is no padding.
1930 x 1530mm
Wholecloth quilt of cream cotton embroidered in lemon thread with names of teachers and students. No filling. Backing is of cream cotton.
1830 x 1250mm
Patchwork quilt of hand sewn hexagons in a variety of print and plain cotton fabrics from 1950-1960. Colours are mainly pinks, blues, greens and yellow, with some red, and white. Quilt has a wide border of yellow poplin, which also forms the backing. No padding.
2280 x 1520mm
Crazy quilt with one large panel. Materials include wools, velvets, silks and crepes. Each piece embroidered in herrigbone stitch to the adjoining piece. 25mm blue border chain stitched on, then 75mm border of black wool crepe with a crocheted edge. The padding is an old blanket and the backing is red/brown printed cotton.
1730 x 1040mm
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
Helen Sparkman
Wholecloth quilt mainly made from material with a green and yellow leaf pattern on a black background. This material was also used in another quilt. The backing has a large centre panel of checked material with panels either side of the leaf pattern from the top. The owner wrote that the uneven thickness of this quilt may indicate that old garments were used as 'batting' similar to her mother's (Matilda Pitt) quilts.
1520 x 850mm
Jenny Loder and Rosemary Hart
Log cabin quilt with logs made from silks (including moire), velvets, brocades and tartan ribbons. Each square is separately backed. There is no padding.
2020 x 1460mm

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