Quilt No.862AG - Annette Gero

1400 x 1230mm
This domestic Wagga rug was made by Gil Jackson (1906-1995) in the Nowra district NSW c.1926. It is now in the collection of Annette Gero.
"Gil was the second eldest son of a family of four sons from Gloucestershire. He always had a hankering to see more of the World. Read about the 'Dreadnought Scheme' and applied for assisted passage. When first arriving in Australia in 1925, Gil, like every 'boy' who came out from England with the 'Dreadnought Scheme' was sent to Scheyville Farm up the north coast and trained in farming.
After three months at Scheyville, Gil was sent to Nowra, to Murphy's farm, at Lower Nimba. This is where he made the 'Wagga' quilt. He certainly didn't have many possessions at this stage. 'Murphys' was a happy place, a big family of three boys and three girls.
After three years in Nowra, wishing to better himself, he moved to Sydney. He had a rough time getting permanent work, tried all sorts, when things got really tough with the depression, he 'humped his bluey' and took to the road.
During his stay in Sydney he stayed in many cheap boarding houses. He met his first wife during this time. The woollen fabric may have been her shirt and there is also a small child's dress covering the original hessian bags. The wagga must have been special to him as he kept it till his death in 1995." [Annette Gero]
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The patches are joined with hand sewing and embroidery, however the 12 panels are joined with machine stitching (chainstitch machine stitching). The blue silk lining was hand sewn into position with silk thread." [NGA]
"The quilt does consist of three layers but the central layer is not padding. The crazy patch pieces were sewn together and this was lined with white cotton fabric prior to the embroidery at the edges of the 12 panels being placed. This in turn was lined with a fine blue silk." [NGA] 1810 x 1460 mm
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