Quilt No.347AL - Alice Lemon

Alice Lemon
Owner: 
Alice Lemon
Location: 
NSW Riverina
Maker
Maker: 
Vera Ellison
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Patchwork quilt made from hexagon patches on one side, and squares and rectangles on the reverse. Cottons are used, mostly from dressmaking, in bright and light colours. The hexagons form an indented edge on all sides; on the back the rectangles have been cut at the edge to match the hexagon shapes. Hand sewn, the edge machine sewn.
No padding.
1551 x 1373mm
History: 

Made around 1958 by Vera Ellison, at the Wombat (NSW) Church Hall at meetings of the Anglican Church Women's Union. Owned by Alice Lemon.

Story: 

"The maker (Mrs Vera Ellison) was a true country woman rearing a large family & joined our Church group about 1956-58. I used to pick her up & take her to meetings. All our members took materials to make 'dilly bags' for missions. Any scraps too small were cut into shapes to make the quilt all hand stitched except the end pieces.
I lived in the country until five years ago and it was during these years that Mrs Vera Ellison was a neighbour (a country neighbour can be miles away). I would pick her up & take her to our meetings & Church. She was a gentle person & a great Sewer & cook. Each member would bring scraps of a frock they had made & each shape stitched together would remind Vera herself and other members of each other.
� The Wombat C.W.U. is no longer as most members have left the district or passed on to a higher life."
[Letter from Alice Lemon 1997]

Related Quilts:

National Trust of Australia (WA)
Quilt No.951NTW - National Trust of Australia (WA)
Hexagon quilt in dress and shirting cottons constructed in frame style with a centre rosette of 7 patches surrounded by 4 borders of patterned hexagons alternating with cream patches. The quilt has an inner border of triangles then rows of rosettes alternating with cream patches. The outer border is triangles. There is no padding. The backing is cream linen and has had a 20th century white cotton sateen slipstitched to it.
2045 x 1940mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.595PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut
Double sided utility quilt made from machine pieced squares of tailors' samples and men's and boy's suitings. The padding is 5 or 6 layers of pieced used clothing including darned, threadbare socks, part jumpers, blanket pieces etc.
2090 x 1340mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Square, Typically Australian, Tailors' samples
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Quilt No.559NPW - N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
The top has a segmented circle in the centre surrounded by a border of small rectangles. The circle is featherstitched on to the background. Materials are wools and cottons and it is hand pieced. The other side appears to have been originally men's suiting materials strip pieced. It is now covered with a children's print in light cotton joined in long rectangles. The padding is coarse heavyweight cotton.
1410 x 1080mm
Patchwork, Frame
Marjorie Treasy
Quilt No.689MT - Marjorie Treasy
Machine sewn quilt made from 125mm squares of scraps left over from dressmaking joined in strips and then the strips joined. There is a border of fawn cotton and the backing is the same material. The padding is an old blanket and the border is padded with sheep's wool.
1400 x 925mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Square
National Gallery of Australia
Quilt No.979NGA - National Gallery of Australia
" Reversible patchwork quilt of woollen suiting/upholstery fabrics in khaki, greys, blues and browns. Both sides have different designs. The front of the quilt has 13 rows of 12 vertical rectangles flanked on either side by a column of 22 horizontal rectangles. The reverse has a more interesting and complex design of small and very large rectangles, squares and triangles; with khaki contrasting with the duller greys and blues. The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching and the quilt is machine quilted along 3 horizontal lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. These lines are more noticeable on the reverse. The reverse face has been on display at the NGA." [NGA] There is a cotton blanket used as padding. 2054 x 1451mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Rectangle, Typically Australian, Tailors' samples
Gillian Sullivan
Quilt No.86GS - Gillian Sullivan
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
Patchwork, Suffolk Puff