Quilt No.189BHS - Benalla & District Historical Society

Benalla & District Historical Society
Owner: 
Benalla & District Historical Society
Location: 
VIC North East
Maker
Maker: 
Mary Jane Block
Made in
AUSTRALIA VIC
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Date: 
1851 - 1880
Description: 
Patchwork quilt, handsewn, with centre section made from hexagons, in red solid and prints, and green, blue and black prints and checks. The centre hexagonal section has sides measuring 420mm. The rest of the quilt is of cream cotton with stars,hearts and other motifs appliqued, and finished with a wide border with 3 narrow red stripes. At a later date it was backed with white damask and machined in 25mm squares, the edges also sewn by machine. No padding.
2500 x 1780mm
History: 

Made by Mary Jane Block in 1871. Later owned by Mrs M.E. Hickson, Strathmore (VIC), Mary Jane's grand-daughter. Now owned by the Benalla & District Historical Society.

Story: 

Letter from Benalla & District Historical Society:
"I have some information for you on Mary Jane Block. She married John Kelly of Violet Town in 1872 where they ran a store and later the Kelly pub.
The donor of the English patchwork quilt, Mrs ME Hickson of Strathmore, their grand daughter was the child of their daughter Daisy. Mrs Hickson passed the quilt to Benalla as she had no children and desired to return it to the district it originated from.
No it does not appear to be dated or signed.
Method of Construction:
The large central hexagon motif which has 42cm sides, is composed of tiny coloured hexagons with 1/4cm sides. This hexagon is bordered and cornered with stars, hearts and other appliqued motifs onto a 81cm square of cream cotton. We believe this section was constructed by Mary Jane Block in 1871.
At a later date, this was machined onto a large rectangle of white damask. It was backed with white damask, the long sides being sewn, then it was turned right sides out.
The whole was machined each way (horizontally & vertically) in crude 2 1/4cm 'squares'. The two short ends are neatened with a 4cm machined hem.
At each end, 16cm from the central cream square, three shapes have been appliqued across the width by hand.
The border of 3 rows of red cotton fabric 3cms wide have been machined around the rectangle with 6cms between them & 15cms at the edge."

Related Quilts:

Albury Regional Museum
Quilt No.10ARM - Albury Regional Museum
Patchwork quilt or cloth made from pieces of woollen material used for regimental uniforms in England last century. Star pattern in colours, red, pale blue, green, maroon, yellow [white] and brown. Hand pieced probably by more than one person. Red fringe machined on. Red flannelette backing in poor condition. Two layers, not quilted.
1780 x 1700mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Military
Joyce Lannin
Quilt No.1029JL - Joyce Lannin
The centre of the quilt is a small blue 6 pointed star surrounded by a larger blue star. Blue stars also form a border to the quilt. The background material is a multicoloured small floral pattern on white cotton. The quilt is all hand worked over templates. The padding is cotton and the backing is polyester sheeting with a border of stars.
2650 x 2475 mm
Patchwork, Pieced Random
Alison Tunney
Quilt No.1022AT - Alison Tunney
Quilt in mauve, pale blue and white squares, with wide borders of floral and off white. The quilting is a centre medallion with leaves on the border, and cross hatched over all. The padding is cotton batting, and the backing is plain white cotton. 2180 x 1900 mm.
Patchwork, Mosaic, Square
National Trust of Australia (TAS)
Quilt No.828NTC - National Trust of Australia (TAS)
Quilt made of hexagons in cotton materials, the hexagons set in the 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern with 6 patterned patches set around a plain coloured centre patch and white hexagons forming 'paths'. There is a white cotton backing with the edges turned under all the way around and top and backing are joined by a blue machine sewn satin stitch. The patches are hand sewn.
2160 x 1830mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.617PWH - 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
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Log Cabin, Pieced Random
Ann Hockey
Quilt No.358AH - Ann Hockey
Patchwork quilt made of small squares pieced from four triangles. Each square is 90mm and is joined to the others by a herringbone lacing in yellow rayon crochet thread, so making an open mesh between each square. The quilt is edged with thick yellow rayon corded braid. Each square is backed with gold coloured cotton. No padding.
1730 x 1430mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block