Quilt No.44JP - Julie Pearce
Made by Elizabeth Louise Williams (nana), great-grandmother of Julie Pearce, in the 1960s, for Julie and her sister. Owned by Julie Pearce and used on her children's beds in Thirroul, NSW.
"My paternal great-Grandmother � was a keen sewer in her time and over 30 years ago made my sister and myself a functional quilt for our beds. She made them on her treadle machine and used fabric scraps that my mother had left over from clothing that she herself had made for us. As a child I clearly remember lying on my bed reminiscing over favourite fabrics and special dresses and reliving memories of times and places the dresses were worn. The time spent on those quilts was well appreciated and is still admired as my children now learn the stories behind the quilts I treasured when I was much younger than they both are now. I am so thrilled they are wiling and happy to share these quilts which mean so much to me.
My Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth (Nana) Williams of Canterbury, Sydney throughout her many productive years, kept herself busy with her sewing. No doubt having eight boys, she had little need to sew pretty dresses so put her skills and time to an equally practical use. She regularly made quilts, at times using fabric supplied to her by The Smith Family, which upon completion she donated to the Aboriginal Missions. Some quilts were used by other family members � I can clearly remember several other quilts of hers that I have seen, one using black imitation fur strategically cut and placed to use the play of light as its feature, another, crazy patchwork squares adorned with feather stitch. �Nana Williams made perhaps hundreds of quilts in her time, which she mostly gave away. She lived a very frugal lifestyle herself and lived to be well into her eighties when she was still actively sewing."
"I estimate the quilts I have were made very early in the 60s although these particular 2 would have been nana's most recent."
[Julie Pearce 20.2.98]
Related Quilts:
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
2286 x 915mm
The quilt is not padded. The patchwork is fully lined with a printed plain weave cotton fabric with a design commemorating Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The design is based on a repeated grid of circles. In the centre of each circle is a cameo of Queen Victoria, surrounded by images of the national flowers of England, Scotland and Ireland: the rose, the thistle and the shamrock. The edge of the front face of the quilt is trimmed with a red and white cotton braid." [NGA] 2380 x 2220mm
620mm x 520mm
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
1830 x 1140mm