Quilts

National Gallery of Australia
"This is a coverlet of pale blue cotton muslin, highly decorated with appliquéd pieced bands, figures, and embroidery. The edge of the quilt is finished with bands of yellow, white and green cotton attached with ladder stitch.
Down the centre field of the design and 4 poems embroidered in quite crude chain stitch. Each piece of prose is accompanied by an appliquéd illustration. For example a large clock accompanies a poem of time. 'While shepherds watch their flocks at night�.'is illustrated with a beautiful scene of the manger watched by an angel, cows and sheep. The appliqué and embroidery is executed crudely with large stitches in running and overcasting. The quilt is signed, 'M.J.H. aged 84 yrs.1924.' " [NGA] There is no padding or lining. 1640 x 1540mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Double sided utility quilt made from machine pieced squares of tailors' samples and men's and boy's suitings. The padding is 5 or 6 layers of pieced used clothing including darned, threadbare socks, part jumpers, blanket pieces etc.
2090 x 1340mm
National Trust of Australia (WA)
Frame quilt of dress cottons, including some glazed cottons. The centre is 4 triangles pieced to make a rectangle. This is surrounded by a plain border, a border of triangles, plain border, triangles border, plain border, border of triangles pieced to form squares, square and triangle border, then rows of squares. The outer border is of glazed floral chintz with a brown background. The backing is cream linen pieced lengthways in 3 sections. There is no padding. It is quilted all over in a large clamshell pattern. The top is covered with netting.
2615 x 2280mm
Gillian Sullivan
Quilt made of 9120 very small Suffolk Puffs, each one about the size of a 20 cent piece. "Each piece backed and the front of it drawn up like a reticule. It was not backed and was rather fragile, so I backed it on to a sheet, as it was heavy and in danger of tearing when lifted." [Gillian Sullivan]
2360 x 2230 mm
Arapiles Historical Society Museum
Patchwork quilt, reversible, with log cabin blocks on one side, with central red square in each block. Colours predominantly light greys, browns and pastels, and dark grey and blue. Reverse side is made of squares constructed from 2 triangles, in black, patterned pastels, pale blue and dark red. There is a black border along 2 edges on this side. It is quilted.
2058 x 1829mm
Alison Barlow
Quilt in traditional design called 'Seven Sisters'. Seven stars, each of six diamonds are set against a cream background, surrounded by bright pink triangles. Hand pieced and hand quilted. Padding is cotton, and backing is cream calico. 2100 x 1850 mm.
The Pioneer Women's Hut
The top is a wholecloth piece of twill type cotton and the backing is a wholecloth piece of finer patterned cotton. The padding is a layer of pieces of used clothing stitched together, including part jumpers, some darned. These are inside an old folded blanket.
1540 x 950mm
Gloria Martin
Double sided machine sewn patchwork quilt made from clothing scraps, wool blends, corduroy, velvets. Patterns include checks and tartans and there are many plain colours. Shapes are mainly rectangles and squares.
1524 x 1372mm
Nancy Dunlap
Grandmother's flower garden pattern. All cottons with plain centres to 'flowers' then row of prints and outer row of plains. One hexagon flower has been repaired. Scalloped edges bound with yellow. Hand quilting around the hexagons. The backing is cream cotton and the padding is thin cotton. 2140 x 1780mm.
Margery Creek
This utility quilt is mainly constructed from long strips of cotton seed sack material. It is machine pieced and quilted by hand in a diagonal pattern. There is a red border. The backing is cotton flannelette and the padding is cotton.
1601 x 1525mm
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)
Quilt of pale yellow cotton sateen with a centre star motif with 8 points in pink cotton sateen. A border of pink cotton sateen has pink triangles on each side. The quilt is machine sewn and elaborately hand quilted with designs including fleur-de-lys shape, feathers, vine pattern, clam shells, 8 petalled flower and cable pattern with the main ground cross hatched. The backing is pale yellow cotton sateen.
2235 x 2065mm
Powerhouse Museum
"A tied patchwork wagga quilt made from swatches of men's wool suiting fabrics in blue/grey and pink/brown tonings. Rectangular swatches have been cut in half diagonally, and the resulting right-angled triangles paired to form larger equilateral triangles which alternate dark with light across the field. The quilt has been machine and hand pieced, then machined in vertical stripes.
The centre field is bounded by two strip-pieced borders at top and bottom, and three down each side. These are sewn from rectangles, using light pink/brown tones for the inner border and darker colours for the outer borders. The quilt is padded and backed and the side seams are secured with black herringbone stitch. The three layers are tied together invisibly with lazy daisy stitches in black cotton from the back." [PHM] The padding is a wool blanket and the backing is two pieces of cream twill cotton.
2030 x 1440mm
National Musuem of Australia
Patchwork quilt with alternate squares of green and fawn cotton headcloth. Various Australian wild flowers are embroidered in coloured threads in the green squares. In the fawn squares there is a stylised flower and leaf pattern outlined in embroidery. The border, front and back is green headcloth. The backing is printed cotton with a floral design. There is some padding.
1610 x 1610mm
Val Ireland
Utilitarian quilt. The top and backing are machine pieced scraps of curtain material and clothing pieces. The centre is an old blanket and possibly clothing pieces.
2033 x 1525mm
The Temora Rural Museum
All cotton hexagon quilt using a wide variety of colours and patterns. The hexagons were hand stitched by Sylvia Schleibs in the same style she and her daughter, Norma Gilchrist, had previously made 3 hexagon quilts. There is a calico border and backing.
2000 x 1450mm
Mrs. L. M. Chick
Hexagon quilt made by hand from a wide variety of cotton materials. There is no padding and the backing is calico.
2286 x 915mm
Glenda Wilkinson
Quilt consisting of 30 blocks 360 x 360mm each (5 x 6). Each block consists of squares and rectangles arranged diagonally and edged with triangles. Each block is made from 2 or 3 different cotton materials, different colours but mainly pastels. It has not been quilted but tied with pink wool with 5 ties per block. Machine sewn with a folded and machine stitched edge. Padding appears to be coarse open weave cotton. The backing is printed flannelette.
2210 x 1850mm
Museum Victoria
Possum skin cloak. Possum skins sewn together with vegetable fibre or kangaroo sinew. Designs incised into the skins, some of which are decorated with ochres. 2070 x 1540mm
Catherine Llewelyn-Smith
Quilt remnant. This piece of the top is hand embroidered in gold thread on a background of burgundy silk in a traditional style still practised by Greek women today. The backing is white and probably cotton or linen.
940 x 430mm

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