Quilt No.469NI - Norma Irvin

Norma Irvin
Owner: 
Norma Irvin
Location: 
VIC Northern
Maker
Maker: 
Joyce Cook
Made in
AUSTRALIA VIC
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Cotton quilt made of octagons with sides measuring 30mm. Material is in various colours and textures in plain, print, stripe and spots. The solid colour blocks are placed in diagonal lines and the patterned ones at random. Hand stitched at 20 stitches to the inch. There is no padding. The backing is cotton headcloth folded to the front, corners mitred then stitched to quilt following outline of octagons.
1150 x 720mm
History: 

Made by Miss Joyce Cook in Swan Hill before 1961. It was given to Norma Irvin by Joyce Cook just after Norma's baby was born in 1960. It is not used and is stored in Norma's house in Swan Hill.

Story: 

Miss Joyce Cook, deceased, was a teacher at the High School in Swan Hill. She taught typing and shorthand and, when needed, also needlework. Around 1947 she was appointed senior mistress at the high school.
The quilt was put on a trunk that stood under a window in the house in which Joyce Cook boarded. The house was sold in about 1960 and Joyce moved into a unit. She disposed of many things and gave the quilt to Norma Irvin to use on the cot for her new born daughter.

Related Quilts:

National Musuem of Australia
Patchwork quilt with alternate squares of green and fawn cotton headcloth. Various Australian wild flowers are embroidered in coloured threads in the green squares. In the fawn squares there is a stylised flower and leaf pattern outlined in embroidery. The border, front and back is green headcloth. The backing is printed cotton with a floral design. There is some padding.
1610 x 1610mm
Lora Busellato
Machine pieced cotton quilt, in random design of geometric pieces. Materials used are cotton sheeting, dress fabrics, broderie anglaise, and seersucker. There is no padding, and backing is white curtain lining.
1540 x 1150 mm.
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
Julie Pearce
Rectangular quilt of print and plain
cottons pieced in squares and rectangles within 2 frames, the inner border or frame of blue/green check material, then 2 rows of squares and rectangles, the outer frame of a grey and red geometric pattern and 2 rows of squares or rectangles. Backing of plain fabric. Machine stitched on a treadle machine.
Jan Tregoweth
Square patchwork quilt made from rectangles of woollen tailors' samples, each patch outlined with machine fancy stitch using red thread. Machine sewn. The backing is a green and white check fabric. No filling.
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Machine constructed log cabin quilt using a wide variety of strips of used clothing including cottons, men's suitings and wools. Each square is about 250mm and arranged in the 'light and dark of the fire' variation of log cabin. There is no padding. The backing is brown twill with an orange pattern and is probably a replacement backing.
2180 x 1710mm