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

Owner: 
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Location: 
NSW Riverina
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Patterms
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued, Signature
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
Quilt No.1016YH - 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.
Wholecloth, Quilting as major design element
John Tomkin
Quilt No.1005JT - 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.
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
Mare Carter
Quilt No.71MC - Mare Carter
Friendship Quilt'. All cotton with thick cotton padding. Each of the large panels of patchwork is different and many are signed by the makers who belonged to the Rebecca Lodge in Linwood California. Dates on the squares with signatures are 1933. Wide variety of colours and patterned and plain fabrics. The quilt is now in 2 pieces.
1981 x 1727mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block
National Gallery of Australia
Quilt No.960NGA - National Gallery of Australia
"A medallion or framed quilt in design. There is a central field of small patchwork diamonds, and from this radiates plain stripes of fabric bordering areas of patchwork panels. The edge of the quilt carries bands of red cotton, which are slightly larger at the top and bottom edges, and here the band is additionally decorated with appliqué diamonds. The fabric of the patchwork is cotton in fine plain weave of pale coloured florals and small geometric designs. The framing and border stripes are of bright red twill weave cotton. The small diamonds of the central field are hand sewn, with more use of machine stitching around the outer edge of the quilt.
The quilt is not padded. The patchwork is fully lined with a printed plain weave cotton fabric with a design commemorating Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The design is based on a repeated grid of circles. In the centre of each circle is a cameo of Queen Victoria, surrounded by images of the national flowers of England, Scotland and Ireland: the rose, the thistle and the shamrock. The edge of the front face of the quilt is trimmed with a red and white cotton braid." [NGA] 2380 x 2220mm
Patchwork, Frame
Daphne Akehurst
Quilt No.570DA - 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
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Alysoun Ryves
Quilt No.539AR - Alysoun Ryves
Red Applique on an off white background. All applique is by hand using herringbone stitch. Three different red materials are used for the applique each printed with a different tiny all over pattern. There are 3 different applique shapes: the 9 major shapes have 8 points; the daisy pattern has 8 petals; the edge pattern is used along the top, left and half of the bottom edge of the quilt and sometimes has 4 points, sometimes 3 and sometimes 2. There is a tiny red piping around the quilt along the bottom and both sides. It is hand quilted in 100mm long zig zags 12mms apart all over the quilt. The quilt is signed twice on the front, once in ink and once in embroidery. It is signed 'Anna Edwards Jan 1858'. There is no padding and the backing material is similar to the off white background material of the top.
2270 x 2180mm
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued