Quilt No.165NB - Nell Bell
Description:
Double sided patchwork quilt in coloured patterned cottons. Side A has frame pattern aound a central pieced rectangle containing a piece of lace curtaining. Colours are ornage, brown, yellow, green, red and black. Side B has windmill blades (4 blades) in printed cottons with solid colour centres appliqued on to a dark brown background. Hand and machine sewn. Padding is fleece wool in an old commercial eiderdown.
1829 x 915mm
1829 x 915mm
History:
Made by Nell Bell at Eltham (VIC) in the late 1950s, and owned by her.
Story:
"These were my first attempts at patchwork quilts. I had never seen patterned ones either in reality or in books. I worked them out myself. Had seen Waggas as a child. Side B attempt at windmills against dark blue sky.
"Made because old eiderdown [had] worn out & needed extra coverings because child Gordon born 1957 needed a bed not a cot so about 1960-61 I guess - Side A a crude attempt at a pattern, mainly dress materials or overall materiala. 1 band flowers on black background a tea towel. Lace panel in centre from curtains. Side B similar materials mix of hand & machine sewing."
Related Quilts:
Cotton scrap quilt in a pattern known as 'Grandmothers Fan'. It is hand quilted. The padding is hand carded cotton and the backing is muslin.
2235 x 1880mm
2235 x 1880mm
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
1270 x 950mm
Unfinished cotton frame quilt. The centre square is 4 triangles and this is surrounded by a border of smaller triangles. Most of the other borders are of triangles in a wide variety of materials, printed and plain.
2286 x 1829mm
2286 x 1829mm
Patchwork crazy quilt in velvets and silks, no pieces over 4" long. Colours are black, maroon, pinks, blues and pastels, and all seams embroidered with coloured silks in herringbone stitch. Backing is green, there is no padding. Quilt is bound with black velvet 1/2" wide. A patch near the centre is embroidered: '1909' and '1948'.
940 x 915mm
940 x 915mm
Cotton quilt top in patter, the owner calls 'Tumblers'. Approximately 590 pieces, with one exception, all different patterns and colours. 2181 x 1980
Quilt of scrap hexagons. Hand pieced over papers with some papers still in place. Materials used include seersucker, plisse, chambray and various other textured cottons used in dressmaking. The owner has restored the quilt. The backing is a soft cotton in indigo blue and the padding is flannelettte. "I machine tied the quilt in its restoration using cream cotton at the intersections so that it doesn't impinge on the interesting fabrics and the overall scrap effects." [Marie Pye]
2590 x 2170mm
2590 x 2170mm