Quilt No.92JM - Jeanne Mims

Owner:
Jeanne Mims
Location:
QLD South West
Maker
Maker:
Nancy Melvina Kelso
Made in
USA
Patterms
Date:
1921 - 1940
Description:
Quilt top is 35mm squares of white, pink, green and blue plain cotton set asymetrically within blue diamonds. The back is plain white cotton. Each square is hand quilted. There is a blue binding.
2591 x 2160mm
2591 x 2160mm
History:
The quilt was made in Iowa or North Dakota in the 1920s by Nancy Melvina Kelso who was the great aunt (on the paternal side) of the present owner. It was brought to Australia in 1975 by Jeanne Mims Mother on one of her visits to their sheep property near Winton, Qld.
Story:
The maker, Nancy Melvina Kelso, was born in 1874 in Wayne County, Iowa, and died in 1964 in the same place. She was one of 8 children of Daniel and Fannie Kelso. Nancy was the daughter who stayed at home to look after aged parents. In north Dakota she worked for many years as a secretary in a flour mill (Minot) and made quilts in her spare time.

The Kelso family c.1895. Nancy back row left.

Nancy Melvina Kelso c.1888
Related Quilts:
Patchwork cot or pram quilt made of diamond patches in the Tumbling Block pattern. Patches are made from cotton, corduroy and velvet, with red, black, teal blue, green, brown and cream predominating. No padding. Backing is of green wool and the quilt is bound with dark red crushed velvet.
780 x 560mm
780 x 560mm
" A wide range of cotton fabrics have been used to make this quilt in the traditional log cabin style. The strips of the log cabin are joined by rows being hand sewn onto a small square backing fabric, each square of strips has then been hand sewn together to form the quilt. The work is backed with a sateen printed fabric decorated with paisley design. A strip of the lining trims the edge of the front face of the quilt. The lining is attached with machine stitching. There are numerous tacking stitches that remain in the front face of the quilt. There are approx 9000 pieces in the quilt, most being only 5mm in width.
The quilt is of three layers because the strips of the log cabin are attached to a backing piece, and then the quilt is lined; however it is not padded." [NGA]
The quilt is of three layers because the strips of the log cabin are attached to a backing piece, and then the quilt is lined; however it is not padded." [NGA]
One side of this quilt is large pieces of check and striped material surrounding a small patterned supper cloth with a border of scrap pieces. The other side is small, floral, check, spotted, striped and plain cotton pieces surrounding a tablecloth. It is machine sewn and is not quilted. The padding is an old woollen blanket.
1825 x 1625mm
1825 x 1625mm
Patchwork quilt or table covering dark and light silks in bright colours, pieced from diamond shapes into stars with black patches between the stars. Plain and patterned silks are used for the stars. Border is made from a single row of Tumbling Blocks in plain silks with an edging on each side of truncated black diamonds on blue on the inside, orange on the outer edge. There is a star pieced of diamonds in each corner. Hand sewn.
1830 x 1800mm
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Handsewn quilt pieced in red, blue, green and yellow print cottons in 'Lone Star' pattern, with diamond shaped patches. The main star is edged with a red and cream sawtooth border. In each corner is a star made up of 4 rows of diamonds, surrounded by small 8 point stars in red and green. The background material is a cream and brown spot print. The backing is a printed cotton in a small all over purple leaf and bud print on cream. Quilting is in an all over wave pattern.
2320 x 2320mm
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2490 x 2200mm
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