Quilt No.519FW - Fran Williams

Fran Williams
Owner: 
Fran Williams
Location: 
TAS
Maker
Maker: 
Unknown
Made in
AUSTRALIA TAS
Date: 
1941 - 1970
Description: 
Mainly cotton top and backing, some silks and satins. Machine construction. Patches, mainly rectangles, joined in strips and then the strips joined to form the top. The back is a similar construction but larger pieces. The padding is made from lots of hand and machine knitted woollen pieces, including jumpers. It is very heavy. It is not quilted. It is not used. The owner calls it a Wagga.
1200 x 1630mm
History: 

Given to Fran Williams, the owner, in 1996, by Dinnie Cameron*who in turn had been given two similar quilts of which this is one. It is thought they originally came from a CWA cottage at St. Helens Tasmania and were probably made in the 1950s.
* Dinnie Cameron is a well known textile and quilt expert in Tasmania.

Related Quilts:

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National Gallery of Australia
"This is not a true quilt, but a pieced coverlet with a lining. The entire front face of the quilt is of pieced hexagonal and part hexagonal printed cotton patches. Pieces are joined with hand sewn over casting stitches of many different coloured cotton threads. The joining of the patches forms a 'daisy' pattern in some areas and in others it is random. The edge of the front face of the quilt carries a 40mm strip of cotton Chinoiserie which is then folded to the reverse of the quilt and becomes part of the lining. The template for the hexagon patches remains in many of the patches: writing paper and news print." [NGA]
The work is not padded "The lining at the edge of the quilt (for approx.175mm) is a plain weave fabric of a Chinoiserie design. The centre field of the lining is a rectangular panel of a twill weave brushed cotton fabric with a striped floral design." [NGA] 2215 x 2070mm