Quilt No.53RO - Robyn Oliver

Robyn Oliver
Owner: 
Robyn Oliver
Location: 
NSW South East
Maker
Maker: 
Unknown
Made in
ITALY
Date: 
Unknown
Description: 
Wholecloth quilt, yellow sateen both sides. Hand quilted, geometric designs; centre square cross hatch, corner spaces filled with diagonal lines, border of 4 lines of parallel quilting. Flock padding visible in holes - said to be wool. 5 cms thick.
2290 x 1950mm
History: 

Purchased from the estate of Erice Zilliotto (born Barratto) Griffith NSW by the present owner.

Story: 

"Located on the user's bed when I first visited the house on behalf of Pioneer Park ���.. Not recognised as a handmade item while the owner's sister was visiting from Sweden, so no questions asked directly about the quilt. Was to have been acquired for Pioneer Park, but step daughters decided to donate their mother's quilt which was better provenanced. I assume this quilt has a similar background to other North Italian quilts referred to �" [Robyn Oliver]
Erice Zilliotto (nee Baratto) was born in 1913 in Cavaso, Treviso, Italy. She could machine knit by the time she was 11. Later she moved to Rome where she had a machine knitting business at home, employing 2 - 3 girls. She knitted for nuns at the Vatican. Around 1962 she came to Australia on holiday, met her husband in Wollongong, and they moved to Griffith. There she did knitting by private order, and produced some fine courtelle suits and dresses. Her mother, born in 1893, was a machine knitter. Her sister Bianca also learned to machine knit, not at home, but from the monastery.
[From notes supplied by Robyn Oliver 1998]

Related Quilts:

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.
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.
Maria Politis
Wholecloth quilt made of deep cherry red satin with backing of sky blue satin. The padding is cotton wadding. It is hand quilted and the pattern is an all over one of four leafed clovers with a border of crescent shapes within straight parallel lines.
2000 x 1700mm
Despina Petridis
Wholecloth quilt made of deep pink satin with a cotton backing in a similar colour. The padding is cotton. It is hand quilted and the pattern is a central motif of a star inside a circle surrounded by parallel lines forming large cable or knot design. The border is of one zig zag and four parallel lines.
1970 x 1770mm
June Brown
Reversible wholecloth quilt of floral cotton material with a sateen finish. Machine quilting in rows holds the layers together. Padding appears to be an old blanket, cream wool with grey and pink stripes.
1950 x 1850mm
Della Savvas
Wholecloth quilt with one side of mauve coloured cotton sateen and the reverse side of cherry coloured cotton. The hand quilting pattern is a diamond shape in the centre of a large floral motif. Around the edge is a large curvilinear pattern. The padding is raw cotton.
2000 x 1810mm