Quilt No.650NG - Norma Gilchrist

Description:
Cotton quilt made entirely of hexagons joined to form 'flowers'. Flowers are not formed into a pattern. All hexagons are hand stitched including on to the blue headcloth border which is then machined on to the same backing material. The quilt is made from dressmaking scraps, mainly offcuts from the children's clothes including from pyjamas, dresses and uniforms. It is not quilted.
2180 x 1710mm
2180 x 1710mm
History:
This is the third hexagon 'flower' quilt made by Norma Gilchrist in the Temora district of NSW. This one was made in the 1960s. It has always been used on beds at the family farm 'Spring Valley' and is still used now.
Story:
Norma was married in 1953 and she and her husband then took over the running of the farm 'Spring Valley' and her parents retired to Temora to live. Norma and her husband had a family of 4, 3 boys and a girl. Life was very busy on the farm, shearing, milking cows, rearing lambs, calves etc as well as cropping but Norma still retained her interests in sewing, gardening and painting, all of which she continues to do.

Norma at 'Spring Valley' 1960s
Related Quilts:
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
1700 x 1490mm
Hexagon quilt constructed over papers; all seams oversewn with featherstitch embroidery. Materials are vyella and clydella scraps from childhood dresses of the maker's first four children, augmented with scraps from a dressmaker and a book of samples. There is no padding; backing is plain, pale blue, brushed cotton.
2200 x 1720 mm.
2200 x 1720 mm.
Quilt made of 9120 very small Suffolk Puffs, each one about the size of a 20 cent piece. "Each piece backed and the front of it drawn up like a reticule. It was not backed and was rather fragile, so I backed it on to a sheet, as it was heavy and in danger of tearing when lifted." [Gillian Sullivan]
2360 x 2230 mm
2360 x 2230 mm
Hexagon quilt made from dressmaking scraps from one neice. The quilt top only is complete and a few papers are still attached.
2250 x 2000mm
2250 x 2000mm
Double sided patchwork quilt. One side has small 'Tumbling Block' pattern. The other side has larger pattern of pieced stars. It is made of silks, some printed, some solid colours mainly blues, greens cream and black. There is no padding.
2100 x 1800mm
2100 x 1800mm
" 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]