Quilt No.547KG - Kristine Gray

Kristine Gray
Owner: 
Kristine Gray
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Florence Edith Gray and Bessie Gray
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1921 - 1940
Description: 
Double sided square quilt. One side is a crocheted rug. The centre of this is 4 triangles joined and from this coloured bands in crochet radiate out to the border. The other side is randomly pieced scraps of mainly woollen material in checks, plains and tartans. Machine construction.
1600 x 1600mm
History: 

This quilt originally started as a rug crocheted by Florence (Blue) Edith Gray pre 1939 at Guildford NSW. It was inherited by Bessie Gray (Blue was her mother-in-law) and when it started to fray Bessie added the other side made from woollen scraps. Bessie passed it on 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]

Related Quilts:

Pauline Munro
Quilt of woollen rectangles, probably tailors' samples. Machine pieced. The backing is floral cotton similar to curtain material.The backing has a french seam down the centre back and is folded over to the front to form a binding. There is no padding.
1440 x 1260
Julie Bos
Allover pattern in woollen dress materials in blue, grey, navy, black and pink. Hand stitched. The owner suggests it was made in the 1950s or earlier. It is not used.
910 x 1250mm
Margaret Hedges
Crazy patchwork quilt with small patches in velvet, silk, brocade and cottons most with hand embroidery over the seams. There are many motifs such as flowers, butterflies, birds also dates, initials and names of local properties. It is padded with a thin soft material and the replacement backing (old) is satin. There is a wide rose coloured frill on all sides.
1680 x 1380mm
Powerhouse Museum
Reversible cot quilt, hand pieced, in the log cabin pattern; the blocks measure 150mm square. The patches have been cut from plain and patterned dress, pyjama and men's shirt fabrics. Strong diagonals were created in the overall design through using light and dark colours, often a strong red, to divide the log cabin blocks in half diagonally. The back is made from rectangles of striped men's shirt fabrics in pastel blues, pinks and browns with a large 'flowe' in each corner, each pieced from six hexagon patches around a central seventh hexagon. There is no padding.
[PHM] 1720 x 1150mm
National Trust of Australia (WA)
Quilt of pale yellow cotton sateen with a centre star motif with 8 points in pink cotton sateen. A border of pink cotton sateen has pink triangles on each side. The quilt is machine sewn and elaborately hand quilted with designs including fleur-de-lys shape, feathers, vine pattern, clam shells, 8 petalled flower and cable pattern with the main ground cross hatched. The backing is pale yellow cotton sateen.
2235 x 2065mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Patchwork quilt made up of 100mm multi coloured squares in a variety of materials including cottons, synthetics, lurex, plain and printed. Each square has dacron padding and is then joined in strips and the strips joined. All hand sewn. The backing is blue synthetic whole cloth 60mm of which is returned to the front to form a border.
1500 x 1200mm