Quilt No.547KG - Kristine Gray

Kristine Gray
Owner: 
Kristine Gray
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Florence Edith Gray and Bessie Gray
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Date: 
1921 - 1940
Description: 
Double sided square quilt. One side is a crocheted rug. The centre of this is 4 triangles joined and from this coloured bands in crochet radiate out to the border. The other side is randomly pieced scraps of mainly woollen material in checks, plains and tartans. Machine construction.
1600 x 1600mm
History: 

This quilt originally started as a rug crocheted by Florence (Blue) Edith Gray pre 1939 at Guildford NSW. It was inherited by Bessie Gray (Blue was her mother-in-law) and when it started to fray Bessie added the other side made from woollen scraps. Bessie passed it on to her daughter Kristine. It is not used now.

Story: 

Robert (1857-1935) and Margaret (1865-1950) Mays were married at Hartley NSW in 1884. Robert came to Australia from Norfolk (England) in 1879. Margaret was the daughter of Samuel Perry a convict transported to Australia in 1835. They were pioneers of the Rydal district near Lithgow NSW. Robert and Margaret had 12 children.
Margaret (Maggie) (1897-1981) was a daughter of Robert and Margaret Mays. She and Arthur Flint were married in 1919 and moved to Bassett Downs a sheep station at Cowra NSW where Arthur worked on the property and Maggie cooked for farm labourers and shearers. They had 4 children. Maggie made her own soap, preserves, jams, pickles, sauces bread etc. just as her mother and sisters did. She also made all her children's clothes on a treadle sewing machine. Like her mother, she had neither electricity nor running water in her home.
Bessie (born 1925)is a daughter of Margaret and Arthur Flint and grew up at Bassett Downs and lived there until she was 20 years old. She cooked for the shearers and did a man's job during the war, mustering, killing sheep, milking cows etc. She also learnt unarmed combat. Bessie married Ian Hamilton Gray in 1946 and they moved to the St. Mary's district NSW where they had 4 girls. This was the first time she had electricity and running water. Bessie ran the school canteen for 10 years, made her own pickles, jams, preserves etc. She also knitted , crocheted, embroidered and made all the children's clothes. Kristine, her daughter, remembers having her first bought dress when she was 13. Bessie is still an active needlewoman, knitting and crocheting for her grand children and Mission Austeralia. She has passed on her considerable skills to her daughters just as she learnt from her mother, Margaret Flint, who in turn had learnt from her mother, Margaret Mays.
Most of the quilts registered with the NQR were made by Bessie Gray at her home at St. Marys on a treadle sewing machine. All the quilts were made of necessity. Scraps left over from making the children's clothes were often joined when the garment was finished with and put away until there were enough joined pieces to make a quilt. The very heavy ones were called 'Waggas' and the others 'rugs' or 'blankets'. Many of the quilts were made in one large piece and then folded over. Bessie and Kristine Gray can still recall which garments many of the scraps came from.
The quilts are valued and will be handed on in the family with pride.

[Notes taken from family history accounts by Kristine Gray and also conversations Bessie Gray, Kristine Gray and Wendy Hucker (NQR) in Wagga Wagga on 2/3 October 1999]

Related Quilts:

National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Handsewn quilt pieced in red, blue, green and yellow print cottons in 'Lone Star' pattern, with diamond shaped patches. The main star is edged with a red and cream sawtooth border. In each corner is a star made up of 4 rows of diamonds, surrounded by small 8 point stars in red and green. The background material is a cream and brown spot print. The backing is a printed cotton in a small all over purple leaf and bud print on cream. Quilting is in an all over wave pattern.
2320 x 2320mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Handsewn quilt of hexagon patches in cotton prints in 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern. Each flower consists of double rows of print hexagons around a yellow centre and these are joined by 'paths' in plain green and white cotton. Backing is green cotton and there is a wool padding. There is outline quilting around all green and white hexagons and centre and first row of hexagons in flowers.
1885 x 1750mm
Bill & Barbara Meynink
Patchwork quilt made from brightly coloured printed cotton fabrics in hexagon patches hand sewn together in rosettes, and stitched by machine onto a border of green moire taffeta. No padding. Backing is green cotton satin curtain lining. There is a matching pillow sham.
2591 x 2540mm
Fay Burgess
Hexagonal piece of patchwork made up of 9 rows of rosettes of hexagons in a wide variety of colours and patterns mainly in silks and velvets. It is incomplete. Backing papers are still in the outside rows and also basting threads. Hexagons are joined by fine whip stitching. It is unlined.
1370 x 1220mm
Helen Jarmyn
Patchwork quilt made in the 'Trip Around the World' pattern, from cottons and some fine dress linen, in bright and pastel solids. Each colour is placed in a diamond shape on the quilt. Patches are 10cm square, quilt has 620 squares. The linen was mainly used to work the cross stitch. Quilt has a 2 inch border in black. Backing is sheeting. Each square is embroidered, with many different stitches, in geometric, floral, animal, insect and abstract designs, in different colours.
2760 x 2350mm
Lyn Uppill
Patchwork quilt in crazy pattern, with pieces of silks, corded silks and velvets in prints, plaids and plains. Nearly all pieces are edged with embroidery, and many pieces have embroidered names and motifs. There are a variety of embroidery stitches. The backing is of slub cotton in a plaid pattern in yellow, grey, red and white. No padding. Quilt has a gathered edging of dark red organdy and silk. Names and dates embroidered are: Bert, Milly, Toots, Verdi, Ida, and 1893, 1895, 1894.
1550 x 1420mm