Quilt No.645ME - Margaret Eisenhauer

Margaret Eisenhauer
Owner: 
Margaret Eisenhauer
Location: 
NSW Riverina
Maker
Maker: 
Isabella Donaldson ?
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
Wholecloth quilt covered with floral cretonne both sides, deep pink and yellow flowers on cream background. Padding is hessian/jute type bags joined.
One of a pair but the other one is smaller.
1800 x 1325mm
History: 

The quilt was probably made by Isabella Donaldson in Temora NSW or Girgarry Vic after 1908. It then passed to Olive Donaldson and is now owned by Isabella's grand daughter, Margaret Eisenhauer. It is not used.

Story: 

Isabella Donaldson lived at Girgarry (Goulburn Valley Vic) and was Margaret Eisenhauer's paternal grandmother. Margaret feels the sewing on the quilt, in part quite rough, indicates the 2 quilts were not made by Olive (Isabella's daughter-in-law, Margaret's mother) who was a beautiful seamstress.
Margaret, born 1925, recalls this quilt was always on her parents' bed.

Related Quilts:

Yvonne Hamdorf
Wholecloth pram quilt with a top of pink cotton sateen, and the reverse is a more finely woven, ivory, fabric. All over quilting design as main feature, with stylised hearts, leaves and cross hatching. The padding is cotton batting. 870 x 660 mm.
John Tomkin
Hand stitched, cotton, appliquéd, quilt in a flower pattern on a plain background. Colours are shades of green, apricot and browns. This quilt was known as a 'Bride's Quilt'. Padding is thought to be layers of white fabric raised almost like a wadding. The backing is cotton material. 2470 x 2020 mm.
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
National Gallery of Australia
" Reversible patchwork quilt of woollen suiting/upholstery fabrics in khaki, greys, blues and browns. Both sides have different designs. The front of the quilt has 13 rows of 12 vertical rectangles flanked on either side by a column of 22 horizontal rectangles. The reverse has a more interesting and complex design of small and very large rectangles, squares and triangles; with khaki contrasting with the duller greys and blues. The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching and the quilt is machine quilted along 3 horizontal lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. These lines are more noticeable on the reverse. The reverse face has been on display at the NGA." [NGA] There is a cotton blanket used as padding. 2054 x 1451mm
Dorothy Stevens
Utilitarian quilt. Padding consists of recycled hand knitted jumper pieces (mainly 3 ply crepe and 8 ply) tacked to a layer of cotton material with strong buttonhole twist thread. The top is a piece of cotton fabric. Machine quilted in rows approximately 70mm apart.
1827 x 1423mm
Mr. K.Green
Crazy patchwork quilt made from silk, cotton and velvet in pastels and rich dark colours with a wide border of dark burgundy silk velvet. Decorative embroidery stitches including straight, herringbone and feather edge each piece. Most pieces have embroidered motifs including crown, flowers, horseshoe and Australian motifs of wattle and emu. Date '1891' worked in cross stitch on one piece. The padding is wool and the backing dark red satin and these are joined by diagonal machine stitching in yellow thread.
1750 x 1100mm