Quilt No.683NTV - National Trust of Australia (VIC)

National Trust of Australia (VIC)
Owner: 
National Trust of Australia (VIC)
Location: 
VIC Melbourne
Maker
Maker: 
Mrs Radin
Made in
AUSTRIA
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Military
Date: 
1851 - 1880
Description: 
Woollen patchwork, mostly 17mm squares, in a heavy closely woven felt like material in red, black, yellow, blue, green and pink. Some larger motifs of pieced stars and crosses, some outlined with a narrow appliqued braid. There is no padding apparent. The backing is a khaki coloured cotton twill fabric. It may originally have had a border or fringe, now removed.
2280 x 1380mm
History: 

The quilt was probably made by Mrs. Radin in Austria pre the 1880s. It was donated to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) by L.Radin, grandson of the maker, in 1978.
The quilt is stored in the National Trust costume and textile store Melbourne.

Story: 

"Known as the 'Indian Army Quilt' because some of its colours are said to be the regimental colours of the Indian Army.
Donated to National Trust in 1978 by Mr. L.Radin of Brighton, Victoria. The quilt was made by his grandmother in Austria or Dubrovnik. She gave it to her son Frank Radin, who was a sail maker in Launceston, after arriving from Dubrovnik in ca 1885-1890. He had the quilt with him and brought it to Melbourne in 1901 - his son was L.Radin, donor. Some sources say Frank Radin brought the quilt incomplete to Australia and finished it himself, and that he moved to Melbourne in 1922."
[Belinda Nemec, Manager of Collections, National Trust of Australia (Victoria) 9.2.2000]

Related Quilts:

Fiona Gavens
Quilt No.1009FG - Fiona Gavens
Hexagon quilt constructed over papers; all seams oversewn with featherstitch embroidery. Materials are vyella and clydella scraps from childhood dresses of the maker's first four children, augmented with scraps from a dressmaker and a book of samples. There is no padding; backing is plain, pale blue, brushed cotton.
2200 x 1720 mm.
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
Margaret-Anne M Thomas
Quilt No.703MT - Margaret-Anne M Thomas
Cotton quilt hand pieced and hand quilted. Eigth pointed star on a white background. 7 rows of 7 stars with a 70mm border. There is a padding or interlining. The backing is plain off white cotton twill.
2040 x 2030mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block
National Gallery of Australia
Quilt No.979NGA - National Gallery of Australia
" Reversible patchwork quilt of woollen suiting/upholstery fabrics in khaki, greys, blues and browns. Both sides have different designs. The front of the quilt has 13 rows of 12 vertical rectangles flanked on either side by a column of 22 horizontal rectangles. The reverse has a more interesting and complex design of small and very large rectangles, squares and triangles; with khaki contrasting with the duller greys and blues. The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching and the quilt is machine quilted along 3 horizontal lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. These lines are more noticeable on the reverse. The reverse face has been on display at the NGA." [NGA] There is a cotton blanket used as padding. 2054 x 1451mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Rectangle, Typically Australian, Tailors' samples
Gillian Sullivan
Quilt No.86GS - Gillian Sullivan
Quilt made of 9120 very small Suffolk Puffs, each one about the size of a 20 cent piece. "Each piece backed and the front of it drawn up like a reticule. It was not backed and was rather fragile, so I backed it on to a sheet, as it was heavy and in danger of tearing when lifted." [Gillian Sullivan]
2360 x 2230 mm
Patchwork, Suffolk Puff
Phyllis Dowling
Quilt No.550PD - Phyllis Dowling
Hand pieced cot quilt made from small rectangular shapes of a great variety of materials including cottons, silks, wools and velvets. The backing is cotton sateen in 3 colours and is brought to the front to form a border of pink, cream and yellow.
1170 x 920mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Rectangle
National Gallery of Australia
Quilt No.977NGA - National Gallery of Australia
" 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]
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Log Cabin