Quilt No.546KG - Kristine Gray

Kristine Gray
Owner: 
Kristine Gray
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Bessie Gray
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Double sided quilt. One side is frame with borders of wool rectangles mainly offcuts of men's suiting from tailors' shops. The other side is mainly flannelette in stripes and patterns similar to pyjama material. The padding is pieced patches of worn jumpers that were too matted to be unpicked. Machine construction.
1700 x 1490mm
History: 

The quilt was made by Bessie Gray between the mid 1940s and the mid 1950s. It was made for warmth and used on the beds at their home at St. Marys, Sydney. Bessie gave it to her daughter Kristine. It is not used now.

Story: 

Robert (1857-1935) and Margaret (1865-1950) Mays were married at Hartley NSW in 1884. Robert came to Australia from Norfolk (England) in 1879. Margaret was the daughter of Samuel Perry a convict transported to Australia in 1835. They were pioneers of the Rydal district near Lithgow NSW. Robert and Margaret had 12 children.
Margaret (Maggie) (1897-1981) was a daughter of Robert and Margaret Mays. She and Arthur Flint were married in 1919 and moved to Bassett Downs a sheep station at Cowra NSW where Arthur worked on the property and Maggie cooked for farm labourers and shearers. They had 4 children. Maggie made her own soap, preserves, jams, pickles, sauces bread etc. just as her mother and sisters did. She also made all her children's clothes on a treadle sewing machine. Like her mother, she had neither electricity nor running water in her home.
Bessie (born 1925)is a daughter of Margaret and Arthur Flint and grew up at Bassett Downs and lived there until she was 20 years old. She cooked for the shearers and did a man's job during the war, mustering, killing sheep, milking cows etc. She also learnt unarmed combat. Bessie married Ian Hamilton Gray in 1946 and they moved to the St. Mary's district NSW where they had 4 girls. This was the first time she had electricity and running water. Bessie ran the school canteen for 10 years, made her own pickles, jams, preserves etc. She also knitted , crocheted, embroidered and made all the children's clothes. Kristine, her daughter, remembers having her first bought dress when she was 13. Bessie is still an active needlewoman, knitting and crocheting for her grand children and Mission Austeralia. She has passed on her considerable skills to her daughters just as she learnt from her mother, Margaret Flint, who in turn had learnt from her mother, Margaret Mays.
Most of the quilts registered with the NQR were made by Bessie Gray at her home at St. Marys on a treadle sewing machine. All the quilts were made of necessity. Scraps left over from making the children's clothes were often joined when the garment was finished with and put away until there were enough joined pieces to make a quilt. The very heavy ones were called 'Waggas' and the others 'rugs' or 'blankets'. Many of the quilts were made in one large piece and then folded over. Bessie and Kristine Gray can still recall which garments many of the scraps came from.
The quilts are valued and will be handed on in the family with pride.

[Notes taken from family history accounts by Kristine Gray and also conversations Bessie Gray, Kristine Gray and Wendy Hucker (NQR) in Wagga Wagga on 2/3 October 1999]

Shirley Gray in a dress made from an old frock. c.1950
Shirley Gray in a dress made from an old frock. c.1950

Related Quilts:

Pauline Hunter
Patchwork quilt made from hexagon patches in satin and nylon, the nylon overlaid on satin. Fabrics are plain, in a mixture of dark and light colours. No padding. Backing is of pink satin with pink satin ribbon covering the joining seams. Hand sewn with some machine stitching. Feather stitching along the edge. There is no padding.
2211 x 1752mm
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Patchwork quilt made from silk and challis and velvet hexagons set to form diamond shapes. The centre shape has 8 hexagons surrounded by a row of 16 hexagons. The outer border of the quilt is 2 rows of 'Tumbling Blocks' set amongst a variety of black silk and satin patches. There is a wide fringe in red, green, blue and yellow. There is no padding and the backing is a recent addition in red cotton, synthetis mix.
1770 x 1740mm
Kapunda Historical Society
Patchwork quilt made from cotton fabrics in stripes, small prints, and plains. Centre block is pieced red and white triangles within a blue and white striped frame, with a row above and below of triangles in a flying geese pattern. Two rows of triangles in the flying geese pattern are on either side the full length of the quilt. Quilt is bordered with red cotton. Colours are red, white, pink, blue and yellow. Padding is probably a woollen blanket, the backing is linen. Closely quilted all over.
2180 x 1930mm
National Gallery of Australia
" Reversible patchwork quilt of woollen suiting in grey, blue, navy, maroon and brown. The fabrics appear to be new tailor's sample pieces (the sizing is still present on the fabric, signifying it has never been washed). The patches are rectangular and vary in size. Both sides have different designs. The front of the quilt has 4 rows of 12 vertical rectangles then below this are 4 rows of 7 horizontal rectangles followed below by 4 rows of 11 vertical rectangles. The reverse of the quilt has a section at the top and bottom composed of 5 rows of 9 horizontal rectangles. The central area is made up of a centre section of 6 rows of 5 vertical rectangles; flanked on either side by a column of 10 horizontal rectangles and two columns of 8 smaller vertical rectangles.
The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching. The patchwork layers and padding are machine quilted on the front down 2 vertical lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. The lines are more noticeable on the reverse as the 2 sides do not match. The front face is displayed at the NGA.
Between the patchwork layers is a striped cotton blanket in black, sky blue, white and cream." [NGA]
2082 x 1386mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt made for a child. All cotton with cotton padding. White blocks have embroidery depicting different nursery rhymes eg Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary ; Old Mother Goose. These blocks are separated by rectangular strips of teal cotton. The quilt is hand stitched and heavily quilted.
1677 x 1271mm
Catherine Ringwood
The top of this quilt is 6 x 5 alternating squares and rectangles of check woollen material in 12 or more colour ways. Herringbone stitch in yellow stranded cotton is worked along each join and border.The border is plain grey wool. There is no padding and the backing is light blue crepe.
1118 x 814mm