Quilt No.121BF - Bud and Patricia Ford
Owner:
Bud and Patricia Ford
Location:
QLD South West
Maker
Maker:
Unknown
Made in
AUSTRALIA QLD
Patterms
Date:
1941 - 1970
Description:
Rabbit skin rug. Hand pieced and stitched on to an Onkaparinga blanket as the backing. The orange coloured blanket shows around the edge of the rug. The skins are very soft and pliable.
History:
The rabbits were trapped in 1951 by trapper George Jackson in the Miles district of Queensland pre myxomatosis. They were tanned at Cloake's tannery in Toowoomba. The rug was then made by Bud and Patricia Ford at 'Aldersyde' homestead (Miles district) in 1952. Used until recently but now stored in the ottoman blanket box as the rug gives Patricia hay fever.
Story:
It took Bud and Patricia Ford 6 months of intermittent work in the evenings to stitch the rug. This was by kerosene lamplight at 'Aldersyde' Homestead, Miles Queensland.
Bud and Patricia Ford with the rabbit skin rug
Related Quilts:
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Longest part: 800mm
Ref: MA Thesis 1973, S.Meagher 'A Reconstruction of the Traditional Life of the Aborigines of the S.W. of Western Australia.
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1300 x 885mm