Quilt No.615PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut

Owner: 
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Location: 
NSW Riverina
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1921 - 1940
Description: 
White cotton quilt of blocks with an embroidered flower in each one. The whole 'garden' is encircled by an appliqued picket fence. There is a cotton backing but no padding.
1840 x 1820mm
History: 

This quilt was made by a group of women from the Boorowa or Cowra districts NSW as a raffle to raise funds for a charity. It was raffled between 1931 and 1935 and the raffle was won by Jessie Jackson, always known as Gipsy. Her daughter Morag Faithfull donated it to The Pioneer Women's Hut. It is occasionally displayed at the museum.

Story: 

The daughter of Gipsy Jackson said the prize for the raffle included a dressed doll and so her mother thought the quilt was a doll's quilt. When the family lived in Queensland and then back in Warren NSW the raffle quilt was always used on the bed in the visitors' spare room.

Margaret Rolfe, well known Australian quilter and quilt historian, recognised the design as one from the American quilt designer, Ruby McKim*, whose designs were also published in the Adelaide Chronicle and republished in the Weekly Times newspaper in the 1930s.

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.
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt in 'Pyramid Charm' pattern. Made in the USA and thought to have come from Louisiana. Hand pieced and hand quilted with the quilting following the triangular shapes. The quilting is quite coarse. The backing is black printed material and there is cotton padding.
1931 x 1855mm
Muriel Hartmann
Old jute wool pack opened out and joined together selvedge to selvedge. Ends bound with recycled curtain material.
1550 x 1321mm
Margery Creek for Eugene Creek
Wholecloth polyester and cotton quilt in deep orange with centre frame of Creek family crest. The crest is machine zig zag appliqued to white background and has a black border. The quilt is machine sewn, hand quilted, has a white backing and a thin black binding on the border. The padding is polyester.
2235 x 1854mm
Dubbo Museum & Historical Society Inc
"English patchwork pieces. 1110mm x 1500mm. Hand pieced by at least two people. Made from scraps, cut down clothing and sheeting. Backing made from shirtings, dress fabrics, furnishing fabric and ticking. No synthetics. Machine quilted. Condition, fragile�.." [Dubbo Museum]