Quilt No.160WHS - Williamstown Historical Society

Owner: 
Williamstown Historical Society
Location: 
VIC Melbourne
Maker
Maker: 
Mrs Hansen
Made in
AUSTRALIA VIC
Patterms
Embroidered and/or Appliqued, Motifs or Names, Signature, Wholecloth, Typically Australian
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
Quilt made of squares of calico joined together. These have embroidered signatures of army personnel and names of battles zones, from World War I. It is lined with muslin.
2000 x 1500mm
History: 

The quilt was put together by Mrs Hansen during World War I. It was given to the Williamstown Historical Society (Vic) by Mrs Hansen in memory of her son Captain Hansen, a soldier who was killed in World War I.

Story: 

"Mrs Hansen and other mothers sent food parcels to their soldier relatives serving overseas during World War I. The tins containing the food were wrapped in calico. Mrs Hansen asked her son to get his men to sign the pieces of calico and send them back home. She then got her friends to embroider over the signatures. The squares of calico were then joined together to form a quilt. The names of the various battle zones were also embroidered on the quilt. The qult is lined in muslin. It has never been used as a bed quilt, but hangs in our Museum. �"
[Lois Swaby Sec. Williamstown Historical Society]

Related Quilts:

Yvonne Hamdorf
Quilt No.1016YH - Yvonne Hamdorf
Wholecloth pram quilt with a top of pink cotton sateen, and the reverse is a more finely woven, ivory, fabric. All over quilting design as main feature, with stylised hearts, leaves and cross hatching. The padding is cotton batting. 870 x 660 mm.
Wholecloth, Quilting as major design element
John Tomkin
Quilt No.1005JT - John Tomkin
Hand stitched, cotton, appliquéd, quilt in a flower pattern on a plain background. Colours are shades of green, apricot and browns. This quilt was known as a 'Bride's Quilt'. Padding is thought to be layers of white fabric raised almost like a wadding. The backing is cotton material. 2470 x 2020 mm.
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.603PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut
The quilt is constructed from machine pieced diamond shaped striped flannel materials. The backing is the same. The padding is not visible but is thought to be worn out woollen clothing, unpicked and ironed flat.
1520 x 970mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Typically Australian, Tailors' samples
Glenda Wilkinson
Quilt No.475GW - 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
Patchwork, Pieced Random, Typically Australian, Tailors' samples
Alysoun Ryves
Quilt No.539AR - Alysoun Ryves
Red Applique on an off white background. All applique is by hand using herringbone stitch. Three different red materials are used for the applique each printed with a different tiny all over pattern. There are 3 different applique shapes: the 9 major shapes have 8 points; the daisy pattern has 8 petals; the edge pattern is used along the top, left and half of the bottom edge of the quilt and sometimes has 4 points, sometimes 3 and sometimes 2. There is a tiny red piping around the quilt along the bottom and both sides. It is hand quilted in 100mm long zig zags 12mms apart all over the quilt. The quilt is signed twice on the front, once in ink and once in embroidery. It is signed 'Anna Edwards Jan 1858'. There is no padding and the backing material is similar to the off white background material of the top.
2270 x 2180mm
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.598PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut
The top is a wholecloth piece of twill type cotton and the backing is a wholecloth piece of finer patterned cotton. The padding is a layer of pieces of used clothing stitched together, including part jumpers, some darned. These are inside an old folded blanket.
1540 x 950mm
Wholecloth, Re-used clothing or blanket, Utilitarian, Typically Australian