Quilt No.658RW - Ruth Wallace

Description:
A hand stitched top in randomly placed diamond shapes in mixed materials, mainly cottons. These are stitched to a flannelette backing. There is herringbone stitching around the border.
1250 x 930mm
1250 x 930mm
History:
It is thought the maker was probably a Mrs. Wicks and that the quilt was made in Qld before the 1940s. Mrs. Wicks gave it to Betty Wallace, the late mother-in-law of the present owner, when the children were babies. Later Betty was going to throw it out but gave it to her daughter-in-law Ruth instead. "I used it for quite a few years. My youngest daughter liked it so much, when the condition of the quilt prevented it from being used - I made her a (sort of) copy and so became hooked on quilting myself." [RW]
Related Quilts:
" A wide range of cotton fabrics have been used to make this quilt in the traditional log cabin style. The strips of the log cabin are joined by rows being hand sewn onto a small square backing fabric, each square of strips has then been hand sewn together to form the quilt. The work is backed with a sateen printed fabric decorated with paisley design. A strip of the lining trims the edge of the front face of the quilt. The lining is attached with machine stitching. There are numerous tacking stitches that remain in the front face of the quilt. There are approx 9000 pieces in the quilt, most being only 5mm in width.
The quilt is of three layers because the strips of the log cabin are attached to a backing piece, and then the quilt is lined; however it is not padded." [NGA]
The quilt is of three layers because the strips of the log cabin are attached to a backing piece, and then the quilt is lined; however it is not padded." [NGA]
Patchwork quilt in Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, consisting of 7 patch rosettes with white 'paths'. Cotton dress and shirting materials have been used in blues, pinks, brown, turkey red and Prussian blue. The quilt is hand sewn and each hexagon is 25mm wide. The backing is cream twill cotton in three panels. There is a hand sewn binding in red/pink cotton. There is overall quilting in chevron or zigzag pattern.
2415 x 2110mm
2415 x 2110mm
All over pattern of rows of hexagons with each unit made up of 4 hexagons each 45mm. Patterned and plain materials thought to date from the 1930s including cotton and linen dress materials, synthetics and synthetic crepe. It was an unfinished top and Meg Orr, the present owner, finished it by machine stitching some of the hexagon rosettes to the red twill background and stitching on a backing. There is no padding.
1740 x 1210mm.
1740 x 1210mm.
Patchwork quilt made from hexagons 63mm across in a variety of cotton prints and plains. The bright coloured patches came from children's clothes and dressmaking scraps. The 'set included a large cot cover, a pillow cover and a circular stool cover. No padding. Backing of unbleached calico. Hand sewn.
2300 x 1840mm
2300 x 1840mm
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
1550 x 1420mm
Quilt consisting of 30 blocks 360 x 360mm each (5 x 6). Each block consists of squares and rectangles arranged diagonally and edged with triangles. Each block is made from 2 or 3 different cotton materials, different colours but mainly pastels. It has not been quilted but tied with pink wool with 5 ties per block. Machine sewn with a folded and machine stitched edge. Padding appears to be coarse open weave cotton. The backing is printed flannelette.
2210 x 1850mm
2210 x 1850mm