Quilt No.766PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Owner:
Powerhouse Museum
Location:
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker:
Unknown
Made in
ENGLAND
Patterms
Date:
pre 1850
Description:
"An unfinished quilt in traditional 'Pinwheel' pattern, handsewn with linen thread using the English method. The quilt is composed of sixteen large hexagonal blocks made up of square, diamond and triangular patches around a central hexagon. The central motifs and outer borders are of block printed floral and geometric patterned glazed cotton chintz, with plain white cotton chintz as the background. The patches still have their original paper templates in place; many of these are covered with handwritten numbers and are perhaps from a school exercise book. A collection of templates,...
History:
"The quilt was given to the museum in 1987 by Mr and Mrs N D Cook of Bowral, NSW. The grandparents of both Mr and Mrs Cook came to Australia from England, and they are not sure which side of the family brought the quilt here with them." [PHM]
Story:
"The fabrics from which the quilt was made are of different dates, the earliest probably dating to the late 1700s, and were probably collected over several years. They are in new condition which suggests the maker was well to do and patchwork a pleasant way to pass the time rather than an economic necessity. The quilt was probably made in England around 1840 and brought to Australia some time after that." [PHM]
Related Quilts:
Handsewn cotton hexagons in a wide variety of patterns. Centre oval of hexagons with 2 outer rings. There is no padding and the backing is white cotton.
2490 x 2200mm
2490 x 2200mm
Hexagons appliqued onto sheeting. 5 groups of 6 hexagons in centre of sheet and continuous row of hexagon rosettes around border.
2261mm x 1664mm
2261mm x 1664mm
Patchwork quilt for a child made from suiting pieces from the Castlemaine Woollen Mills in Victoria. One side has dark rectangles in greys and navy, the other side uses pieces in light browns, cream and rust, with dark grey. The edging is also made from suiting. No padding Machine sewn.
1347 x 1271mm
1347 x 1271mm
Frame quilt, hand and machine sewn, centre square of squares (7 rows by 7 rows) of 2 triangles, with red border. Alternate rows of triangles, rectangles, 'flying geese' border, squares, squares set on point with triangles, wide red border. Hand quilted throughout in chevrons, single cables and single scallops. The padding is a hand woven cream wool blanket and the backing is cream cotton twill.
2330 x 2030mm
2330 x 2030mm
Frame quilt of dress cottons, including some glazed cottons. The centre is 4 triangles pieced to make a rectangle. This is surrounded by a plain border, a border of triangles, plain border, triangles border, plain border, border of triangles pieced to form squares, square and triangle border, then rows of squares. The outer border is of glazed floral chintz with a brown background. The backing is cream linen pieced lengthways in 3 sections. There is no padding. It is quilted all over in a large clamshell pattern. The top is covered with netting.
2615 x 2280mm
2615 x 2280mm
Patchwork quilt made from alternate squares of light green and medium green cotton headcloth. The light green squares are hand embroidered with Australian native birds, the medium green squares are decorated with pulled thread designs. No padding. Backing and binding of medium green headcloth. Made from patterns published in The Adelaide Chronicle.
2650 x 1573mm
2650 x 1573mm