Quilt No.401AH - Anne Howard

Anne Howard
Owner: 
Anne Howard
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Agnes Maxwell
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Cotton patchwork quilt 'Trip Around the World'. Various patterns and colours and a wide variety of cottons eg homespun and waffle weave. Hand pieced and hand quilted. The backing is yellow cotton and the padding is thought to be a beige coloured curtain.
1830 x 1260mm
History: 

This quilt was made by Agnes Maxwell for her grand-daughter Anne Howard in the late 40s or early 50s in Sydney. It is still owned by Anne.
It is now stored in a camphorwood box.

Story: 

"Agnes McEwan Brown Maxwell - 1876-1970
Born in the port town of Helensborough Scotland which is not far from Glasgow and Loch Lomond. Died in Sydney At the age of 94.
Came to Australia from Vancouver, Canada in 1935. Lived in Leeton for many years but after the death of her husband in 1949 she moved to Pennant Hills, a new suburb of Sydney in the north.
When she lived in Pennant Hills she was always working with her hands. Exquisite fine lace tablecloths crocheted with the tiniest crochet hook, beautifully knitted baby clothes and there always seemed to be a quilt in the making. Quilt making had always been in the family. Grandma Maxwell and her sisters (Sally, Polly and Jean) had all made quilts for their daughters and the tradition continued with the arrival of grandchildren. The quilt made for her first born Kathryn, which was made out of dressmaking scraps from Kathryn's own clothes was unfortunately lost in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983, having been brought out from Canada in 1934. However those made for the granddaughters have met a kinder fate.
Grandma Maxwell continued to sew and make quilts until well into her nineties. She was well loved by many and had a lovely group of friends who brought her their fabric offcuts to help with the quilt making. One of her favourite charities was the Spastic Children's Association for whom she made several quilts which were then raffled and always resulted in a most successful fund raising activity for the Association. In the 1960s when she was already in her eighties several ladies from the Pennant Hills area used to come and help to do the final quilting on these quilts when she couldn't manage the whole thing on her own."
[Irene Garran and Anne Howard 29.8.2000]
There are 4 grand-daughters and each has a quilt.

Related Quilts:

Bob Sloan
Double sided quilt made from all wool worsted suiting samples. Machine construction. There is no padding.
1840 x 1330mm
Wangaratta Centre Quilters Inc
Irregularly patched from a variety of cotton dress prints, checks, plains and mattress ticking. 1920s and 30s fabrics. Both top and back are similar. Hessian padding. Originally two single quilts, now stitched together.
1850 x 1720mm
Historical Society of Cockburn
Handmade quilt in off centre log cabin pattern. Pieces are floral furnishing and dress fabrics, in twenty blocks. There is no padding, and backing is of bright floral cotton. 1900 x 1500 mm.
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt, all cotton including cotton padding filler. The design is 'Dresden Plate' or 'Friendship Circle'. Background is white with multicoloured and patterned triangular pieces forming circles. Hand stitched and heavily quilted.
2235 x 1778mm
Jean Gill
Pieced quilt featuring log cabin and tumbling block patterns. It is handsewn and has some appliqued flowers.Materials are mainly velvet with a small amount of cotton. There is no padding and the backing is cotton flannelette.
1525 x 1220mm
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Quilt with alternate red and white diamonds in cotton, with wide border of white cotton and a white cotton crochet edging. All diamond patches and edging were joined to white border decorated with feather stitch. White border edged with zig-zag white feather stitch. Centre rectangle of white has 4 red petals edged with white feather stitch and 4 red diamonds each embroidered in white clockwise: '1898', 'R', 'L', 'K'. Diamonds edged with feather stitch. There is no padding and the backing is white cotton.
2420 x 1740mm