Quilt No.499AG - Anne Griffin

1655 x 945mm
The quilt was made by Norma Griffin (1925-1997) in 1949 in Papua New Guinea. It was made for decoration in their typical bamboo house in Saidor. In 1951 the family came to Australia and Norma brought the quilt with her. It is now owned by her daughter Anne. It is not used.
"The quilt was made during the first half of 1949 by my mother, Norma Griffin, aged 24, at Saidor in New Guinea, which was Australian Mandated Territory at the time. My parents were both from Ballarat, Victoria, and had gone to New Guinea as newlyweds in 1947 where my father was stationed as a patrol officer. Saidor was their first posting��.I have been able to date the quilt because mum wrote a book about her experiences in New Guinea and I hope to do something about publishing it next year. She died in November 1997 and so far it has been too difficult for me to do anything about the book.
When we were packing up her sewing room in July 1997 mum had earmarked the quilt for the rubbish bag. Of course I said, no way, the quilt was a record of her times and important to keep despite its poor condition��.Mum had kept the quilt for nearly 50 years , I think to remember her happy days. She had unpicked the centre and the bottom edges in order to mend it. In fact, somewhere amongst her things I think I have a handful of shredded cotton from the centre. I wouldn't let her throw that out either.
I am so glad mum kept the quilt and she would be so pleased to receive some recognition of her work and her life as a true pioneer woman in extraordinary circumstances." [Anne Griffin October 1999]
The materials for the quilt were given to the maker Norma Griffin by Father Wald the priest at the catholic mission at Eumbi near where the family lived. They had been donated to him by friends in the USA. The backing material, khaki lap lap (desoutti) was left over from WW2.


Related Quilts:
2100 x 1800mm
The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching. The patchwork layers and padding are machine quilted on the front down 2 vertical lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. The lines are more noticeable on the reverse as the 2 sides do not match. The front face is displayed at the NGA.
Between the patchwork layers is a striped cotton blanket in black, sky blue, white and cream." [NGA]
2082 x 1386mm
160 x 135mm
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
1905 x 1296mm
1240 x 126mm