Quilt No.647ME - Margaret Eisenhauer
1325 x 1350mm
This quilt was made by Olive Donaldson (born Dolphin) in Melbourne pre 1923. It is now owned by her daughter, Margaret Eisenhauer.
Olive Donaldson (1893-1988) made the quilt in Melbourne probably pre her marriage in 1923. Olive came to the Temora district to be a farmer's wife on a mixed farm, sheep and grain (mainly wheat and oats). The furniture and other chattels came up in a horse drawn covered van.
Olive was a superb seamstress and made all the clothing and household furnishings for the family. She had one child, Margaret, and lived on the farm until her husband died in 1969.
Olive's grand parents migrated from Ireland where they had a farm. Olive's mother, Catherine, was born here and the family lived at Girgarry in the Goulburn Valley, Victoria.
Margaret recalled that in summer her mother would put a hand spun, hand woven Irish linen cover on the double bed in the spare room and that it had a big round embroidered piece in the middle. In winter the quilt was on the bed with just a marcella under it.
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The coverlet is decorated with rows of pieced work surrounding appliquéd and embroidered scenes. A panel down the LHS of the quilt and a smaller panel lower RHS depict animals and floral images. In the centre RHS an elderly couple sit beneath a tree. In the upper left a bride and groom accompanied by three flower girls are showered with petals from a wicker basket carried by a very large angel. Glass beads, sequins and a button have been used to highlight the appliqué and embroidery.
As with all of Mary Jane Hannaford's quilts, the work is stitched by hand and quite crudely, but the naivety of the images is overwhelming with their charm." [NGA] The quilt is not padded or lined. 1950 x 1690mm
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1820 x 1500mm
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