Quilt No.583SC - Susanne Cody

Owner: 
Susanne Cody
Location: 
NSW South Coast
Maker
Maker: 
Olive May Snow
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Quilt, machine construction using rectangles of mainly woollen materials with some corduroy and mohair. Initially 14 rows and then 2 rows added for extra warmth. 25mm bias cut yellow poplin binding. The padding is an old army blanket and the backing is printed cotton.
1500 x 1093mm
History: 

The quilt was made by Mrs. Olive May Snow (born Birch) in Goulburn NSW in the early 1950s. She gave it to her sister Lorna and it is now owned by Lorna's daughter Susanne Cody. It is not used now.

Story: 

" Olive Birch (married at 45 years) had always worked at the Singer Sewing Machine shop in Auburn St Goulburn. They had a button covering service and when customers came in to have their buttons covered Olive would carefully collect any spare scraps of fabric that were left over.
She then sewed them all together by machine and used one of my father's old army blankets for extra warmth. Upon its completion my father so admired it that Olive gave it to him as a gift.
It was always part of growing up - if we were sick or cold we were snuggled up in it- it was very much used and enjoyed - well washed and hence the patches have shrunk over the years.
Perhaps it was this cheery rug that began my love of and journey into patchwork. My aunty Olive bought my first sewing machine on completion of my HSC in 1967."

[Susanne Cody 6.11.99]

Olive Snow with the quilt 1998
Olive Snow with the quilt 1998

Related Quilts:

Dianne Thompson
Patchwork quilt made from Suffolk Puffs in a mixture of bright and pastel prints and plains, mainly in cotton materials. Hand sewn. No padding or backing.
1630 x 1440mm
Tess Davidson
Hand stitched quilt of suiting materials. Centre rectangle also suiting materials but arranged with a smaller scale, is edged with a cord of red fabric covering string. The outer red border has been renewed by the owner and closely matches the original. The backing is ticking. There is no padding.
2390 x 2110mm
Julianne Humphris
Patchwork quilt of hand sewn hexagons in a variety of print and plain cotton fabrics from 1950-1960. Colours are mainly pinks, blues, greens and yellow, with some red, and white. Quilt has a wide border of yellow poplin, which also forms the backing. No padding.
2280 x 1520mm
Ann Hockey
Patchwork quilt made from rectangles of samples of men's woollen suitings, in greys and blues and some browns. The rectangles were machine sewn together and then sewn in rows or strips. Originally the quilt had a rabbit skin backing, removed due to deterioration. No padding. Machine sewn.
1550 x 1420mm
Friends of the Hawkesbury Art Society
Patchwork Quilt consisting of diamond shapes forming a Tumbling Block pattern. All cotton, mainly patterned pieces, with signs of blotting paper templates. Hand sewn. The outer border of patches consists of off-cuts from nurses' uniforms of the times as 2 of the maker's daughters were nurses. It is thought most other squares were probably from material samples from large city stores such as Anthony Horderns. Backing is red cotton in a paisley design.
2030 x 1890mm
Red Cliffs Historical Society
Pieced construction, repeat block format, American Blue Grass pattern. Hand stitched and quilted with a machined edge. Mauve check stars, 8 points, surrounded by 16 point stars in yellow floral. One star per block plus green squares and red strips. The background is yellow cotton and so is the backing. There is a dacron type padding.
1980 x 1740mm