Quilt No.462MW - Margaret Wood

"Early this century, my grandparents William and Maria Young, bought some bushland running down to the Olinda creek, below Mt. Evelyn. On the hillside, they built "Kookaburra Cottage" which they referred to as their Mountain house. Beside them, a Mr. Clarrie Earl built a luxurious log cabin, with Charlie Mezgar (?) as resident caretaker. It is now known as Chateau Wyuna. Ours was a timber shack, where our family and friends spent so many happy week-ends. They travelled by buggy prior to their Fiat owning years, setting off from Box Hill on Friday evenings.
Down the hill and across the creek on the flats, I remember Mrs. Tadgell's farm, with cows. It was about 1935 that Mrs. Tadgell sewed on her treadle machine, a velvet patchwork quilt for my single bed������The final backing was an artificial silk, which later suffered moth damage. My Mother replaced this in the early post-war years, when material was scarce, by hand stitching on a striped folk weave cotton fabric. It is not in keeping with the quilt's elegance, but does hold it firmly on the bed. The velvet surface is without blemish or wear. It has remained in our linen press, being considered too delicate to stand up to children's wear and tear. The stitching is perfect and a lasting tribute to Mrs. Tadgell's ingenuity and skill in creating this lovely quilt."
[Margaret Wood July 1998]