Quilt No.936HS - Helen Sparkman

Helen Sparkman
Owner: 
Helen Sparkman
Location: 
SA Adelaide
Maker
Maker: 
Clara Pitt
Made in
AUSTRALIA SA
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
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
History: 

This hexagon quilt top was made by Clara Pitt in South Australia in the 1960s. It is now owned by Helen Sparkman who is the great neice of Clara May Pitt.

Story: 

"Clara made many quilts, mainly during the 1950s and 1960s, not out of need but because of her love of patchwork. Her quilts were mainly Hexagons and Suffolk Puffs. Clara was a single lady who had five neices and a nephew, and quite a number of great neices and nephews. As each quilt was completed it was presented to a family member. These family members now cherish her gifts, even though all have often smiled and queried her fabric selection, placement, neatness and her continual use of white thread over the years. Clara was over 80 years of age when she made her last quilt (Hexagons of course!) for a private Museum."
[Helen Sparkman Dec. 2000]

Related Quilts:

National Gallery of Australia
"This is not a true quilt, but a pieced coverlet with a lining. The entire front face of the quilt is of pieced hexagonal and part hexagonal printed cotton patches. Pieces are joined with hand sewn over casting stitches of many different coloured cotton threads. The joining of the patches forms a 'daisy' pattern in some areas and in others it is random. The edge of the front face of the quilt carries a 40mm strip of cotton Chinoiserie which is then folded to the reverse of the quilt and becomes part of the lining. The template for the hexagon patches remains in many of the patches: writing paper and news print." [NGA]
The work is not padded "The lining at the edge of the quilt (for approx.175mm) is a plain weave fabric of a Chinoiserie design. The centre field of the lining is a rectangular panel of a twill weave brushed cotton fabric with a striped floral design." [NGA] 2215 x 2070mm
Pioneer Settlement Authority
Centre medallion of hexagons surrounded by blocks of tumbling blocks. Rows of triangles around the edge. Each corner has a star within a hexagon. Hand stitched with the traditional 20 stitches to the inch. There is a silk tassle in each corner. Materials include: silk, silk ribbon, taffeta, brocade, velvet, striped silk, faille. The backing is cream holland.
1580 x 1510mm
Jan Tregoweth
Patchwork quilt of cotton hexagon patches grouped in 'flowers', comprising 4 rings of patches around a central hexagon. Prints and plains are used, the colours mainly browns, greens, yellows, dark blue and dark pink. The 'paths' are in a yellow-brown cotton. Cotton backing. The padding is probably an old blanket. The quilt is an irregular shape, and is tied.
2550 x 1870mm
Glenda Wilkinson
The quilt consists of 2 layers of random pieces of woollen coating and suiting materials machined together, very dark colours on one side and a mixture of dark and lighter on the other. The 2 layers are quilted together with a row of machining and has a folded and machine stitched edge. There is no padding.
1270 x 950mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt made for a child. All cotton with cotton padding. White blocks have embroidery depicting different nursery rhymes eg Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary ; Old Mother Goose. These blocks are separated by rectangular strips of teal cotton. The quilt is hand stitched and heavily quilted.
1677 x 1271mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Continuous 'sleeve' of hand sewn small hexagons, many woollen, some joined, some darned, plain and patterned. Several bands of plain coloured hexagons. The padding is ticking, an old cream blanket and part of a bedspread.
1960 x 800mm