Quilt No.303ASA - Art Gallery of South Australia

Art Gallery of South Australia
Owner: 
Art Gallery of South Australia
Location: 
SA Adelaide
Maker
Maker: 
Rebecca King
Made in
AUSTRALIA SA
Date: 
1881 - 1900
Description: 
Patchwork crazy quilt in silks, cotton and velvet has an appliquéd golden brown velvet star with black points in the centre. All seams have embroidery, mainly herringbone or feather stitch. The outer border is a light tan velvet. Quilt has a variety of appliquéd and embroidered motifs, including horseshoes, tennis rackets, kettle, cross tombstone, butterflies, hearts and an emu. Backing unknown. Handsewn.
2025 x 2680mm
History: 

Made by Rebecca King, c.1890-1895, near Georgetown (SA). Owned by her neice, Dr A.W. Wall. Donated to the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, in 1972 by Dr Wall.
726A4A\Y

Story: 

Rebecca King was born in Morphett Vale (SA) in 1859, and lived most of her life on a farm near georgetown (SA). She was a painter as well as a quilter, and was the great-aunt of ceramic artist Margaret Dodd. In 1901 Rebecca married Thomas Hynes, and died in 1915 in Katanning (WA).

Related Quilts:

National Trust of Australia (WA)
Hand sewn quilt (possibly child's or table top) of crazy patchwork in silk, silk ribbon and cotton velvet. The top has surface decoration of embroidery on all seams, feather stitch and blanket stitch variations. Many of the crazy patches are also embroidered. The centre patch has a rooster embroidered in lame thread. Embroidered motifs are hearts, butterflies, guitar, cow, Little Red Riding Hood, horseshoes, crown, clover leaf. Stitches are feather, stem, satin and blanket. Embroidered initials are 'B', 'R', and 'S'. The backing is dark grey silk.
840 x 840mm
National Gallery of Australia
" This coverlet is composed of two pieces of dark blue cheese cloth joined with a row of running stitches down the centre of the coverlet (the seam faces the front face of the coverlet but is hidden beneath a row of appliqué).
The coverlet is decorated with rows of pieced work surrounding appliquéd and embroidered scenes. A panel down the LHS of the quilt and a smaller panel lower RHS depict animals and floral images. In the centre RHS an elderly couple sit beneath a tree. In the upper left a bride and groom accompanied by three flower girls are showered with petals from a wicker basket carried by a very large angel. Glass beads, sequins and a button have been used to highlight the appliqué and embroidery.
As with all of Mary Jane Hannaford's quilts, the work is stitched by hand and quite crudely, but the naivety of the images is overwhelming with their charm." [NGA] The quilt is not padded or lined. 1950 x 1690mm
National Gallery of Australia
"This quilt follows the traditional hexagon patchwork pieced pattern, which are then joined and sometimes edged with a contrasting border. The edges of the quilt have been turned and then scalloped edges made of identical patches to the main body of the quilt have been attached to the edge. The quilt is fully lined, and the lining is visible front the front face through the gaps between the scalloped edge. The lining is attached to the patchwork with a row of stitches along the edges; there are no stitches in the centre field. The fabrics of the quilt are plain weave cotton in simple floral and geometric designs. Most of the fabrics are monochromatic. Several different colour ways of the same fabric are evident which could suggest some fabrics were from manufacturer samples. The lining is a William Morris print.
Each of the patchwork pieces (there are several thousand present) are sewn together with very fine overcasting stitches. The quilt is entirely hand sewn. There is some evidence that templates from the hexagon pieces possibly blotting paper, remain in situ���The quilt is not padded or quilted. The lining is fine twill weave cotton printed in pink and pale purple. The design follows William Morris's 'Strawberry Thief design'." [NGA] 2075 x 1911mm
Wangaratta Historical Society
9 large blocks of crazy patchwork in silks and velvets. The blocks are divided by strips of deep ruby coloured silk. There is a wide ruby border with peaks to which is attached cream lace. The backing is beige silk. The main blocks are outlined with feather stitch in gold thread and many individual patches are outlined in fancy stitches and have embroidered motifs some of which are Australian eg centre patch has Sturt's Desert Pea flowers, parrots, wattle. There are also English flowers, Japanese motifs, flags, domestic objects and Marianne's initials. Embroidery is in a variety of threads including chenille.
2250 x 2180mm
Susan Shannon
This hand pieced and hand quilted hexagon quilt is in a pattern often called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'. The background is white and there are concentric rows of double rosettes each with a yellow centre. The colours start in the centre of the quilt with pink and then follow the rainbow. Paper templates were used. The padding is cotton (American) and the backing is cotton floral poplin.
2360 x 1730mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt, all cotton including cotton filling. Pink and white. Large plain pink blocks with white pieced blocks in between in arrow type pattern based on rectangles. Hand sewn and hand quilted
1931 x 1728mm