Quilts

Powerhouse Museum
"A quilt or coverlet of natural cotton sheeting with appliqueed motifs cut from a variety of crimson cotton damask. The quilt is hand sewn and nearly square and has a 12 cm border made from the same crimson damasks. The applique motifs consist of a range of hexagons, rosettes, flowers, hearts and stars that radiate outwards from a large centrally placed star shape. All are the same shade of crimson red which suggests they were dyed in the same dye pot. The fabrics are now quite thin and soft which suggests that the quilt, or the fabric it was made from, was well used." [PHM]
1960 x 1950mm
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Quilt with alternate red and white diamonds in cotton, with wide border of white cotton and a white cotton crochet edging. All diamond patches and edging were joined to white border decorated with feather stitch. White border edged with zig-zag white feather stitch. Centre rectangle of white has 4 red petals edged with white feather stitch and 4 red diamonds each embroidered in white clockwise: '1898', 'R', 'L', 'K'. Diamonds edged with feather stitch. There is no padding and the backing is white cotton.
2420 x 1740mm
Alice Lemon
Patchwork quilt made from hexagon patches on one side, and squares and rectangles on the reverse. Cottons are used, mostly from dressmaking, in bright and light colours. The hexagons form an indented edge on all sides; on the back the rectangles have been cut at the edge to match the hexagon shapes. Hand sewn, the edge machine sewn.
No padding.
1551 x 1373mm
Joan McGregor
One side of this quilt is large pieces of check and striped material surrounding a small patterned supper cloth with a border of scrap pieces. The other side is small, floral, check, spotted, striped and plain cotton pieces surrounding a tablecloth. It is machine sewn and is not quilted. The padding is an old woollen blanket.
1825 x 1625mm
Diana Cameron
Small patchwork piece possibly made from salesman's samples. There is no opening in the back so it is not a cushion cover. There is no padding. The backing is green polished cotton. There is a 40mm fringe around the edge.
520 x 520mm
Ruth Hansen
Cotton patchwork quilt in an all over pattern of diamonds in a wide variety of patterned and plain materials. Many seams are oversewn in feather stitch which goes through to the backing of calico.
1625 x 925mm
Betty Gray
Hand appliqued, embroidered and quilted, 1940s. Cotton quilt with yellow, pink and purple tulips and green leaves, has scalloped edging with green piping. Hand quilted.
2240 x 885mm
Santa Maltese
A 'foot' quilt, "copri piedi" used on the bed. Pink satin top and blue satin backing. The pink top is hand embroidered in a trellis pattern in shadow stitch and within each section there are hand embroidered sprigs of flowers in silk threads. The whole top is elaborately quilted. The silk cord binding is twisted into four decorative loops at each corner. There is a thick padding of cotton grown locally in Sicily.
1260 x 650mm
June Brown
Rectangular cot quilt of green floral cretonne with pleated frill. Machine made. The backing is the same material. It is tied not quilted. The padding is old woollen jumpers.
1050 x 610mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Handsewn quilt pieced in red, blue, green and yellow print cottons in 'Lone Star' pattern, with diamond shaped patches. The main star is edged with a red and cream sawtooth border. In each corner is a star made up of 4 rows of diamonds, surrounded by small 8 point stars in red and green. The background material is a cream and brown spot print. The backing is a printed cotton in a small all over purple leaf and bud print on cream. Quilting is in an all over wave pattern.
2320 x 2320mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt with diagonal arrangement. All cotton including cotton padding. Hand sewn and quilted.
2109 x 1702mm
Catherine Ringwood
The top of this quilt is 6 x 5 alternating squares and rectangles of check woollen material in 12 or more colour ways. Herringbone stitch in yellow stranded cotton is worked along each join and border.The border is plain grey wool. There is no padding and the backing is light blue crepe.
1118 x 814mm
Glenda Wilkinson
Small quilt made from pieces of heavy weight wooollen coat material cut into strips and machined together. It is reversible. Each side is made from different materials but in similar colours of aqua, blue, green and beige. The 2 layers are quilted together with a few machined lines of straight stitching. It has a folded and machine stitched edge. There is no padding.
950 x 790mm
Heather Roobol
Patchwork quilt has three centre squares, one in blue/white/brown in a cross pattern, one in framed square, one with diagonal strips in a pink frame. The rest of the quilt is made from strips of rectangles in different sizes sewn in rows. There is a narrow pieced frame, then an outer border of pieced rectangles. Mostly pastel colours. No padding. Backing is calico. There is a little embroidery.
2160 x 1601mm
Lyn Uppill
Patchwork quilt in crazy pattern, with pieces of silks, corded silks and velvets in prints, plaids and plains. Nearly all pieces are edged with embroidery, and many pieces have embroidered names and motifs. There are a variety of embroidery stitches. The backing is of slub cotton in a plaid pattern in yellow, grey, red and white. No padding. Quilt has a gathered edging of dark red organdy and silk. Names and dates embroidered are: Bert, Milly, Toots, Verdi, Ida, and 1893, 1895, 1894.
1550 x 1420mm
Fleur Margaret Lehane
Unfinished cotton frame quilt. The centre square is 4 triangles and this is surrounded by a border of smaller triangles. Most of the other borders are of triangles in a wide variety of materials, printed and plain.
2286 x 1829mm
Flora Noyce
Log cabin quilt consisting of 36 blocks each 200mm square. Light and dark arrangement with a variety of small patterned cotton materials (floral, spotted, striped) and plains. The blocks are hand stitched on to fine cotton and then joined by machine. There is a 120mm double gathered frill of floral cotton with a beige background. The backing is 2 pieces of cream cotton with repeat floral and musical motifs interspersed with forget me nots.
1500 x 1500mm
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.
Daphne Akehurst
Cotton quilt of hexagons in 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern. Hand stitched. Machined to a cotton backing. There is no padding.
2480 x 1950mm
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

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