Quilt No.696SM - Susan Mathews
Description:
Cotton quilt machine pieced from 64mm squares in blues, aqua and white, arranged in a straight furrows set. Machine quilted on the seam lines. The padding is cotton and the backing is cotton poplin. Bias binding has been used on the edges.
2260 x 1385mm
2260 x 1385mm
History:
The quilt was made by Elsie Roberts in Box Hill Melbourne around 1965. It was made for her daughter Susan when she was 12 or 13 and the colours were to go with the wallpaper that Susan had chosen for her new attic bedroom. Susan (Mathews) has always been the owner.
Story:
This was the first patchwork quilt Elsie Roberts made and was followed by an applique quilt made from a kit. After this she didn't make any until the mid 70s when her daughter was deeply involved in quilt making. Elsie then made quilts spasmodically until the early 90s when it became her main creative interest.
Related Quilts:
Dresden plate quilt with pointed pieces set around a white centre. Fabrics are checks, floral patterns and plains of the 1930s. The twenty blocks are sashed with plain mauve fabric which does not meet evenly in some places. The padding is two layers of cotton bedspreads. The backing is open weave rough quality cotton.
1860 x 1550mm.
1860 x 1550mm.
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.
2200 x 1720 mm.
Small patchwork piece possibly made from salesman's samples. There is no opening in the back so it is not a cushion cover. There is no padding. The backing is green polished cotton. There is a 40mm fringe around the edge.
520 x 520mm
520 x 520mm
Single bed quilt hand pieced from silk hexagons using the English method. The border, backing and central rosette of hexagons are black. All other hexagons are a mixture of plain colours, stripes and florals. They are randomly placed. It is quilted in a diamond pattern. The padding is a thin cotton woven material.
1550 x 1330mm
1550 x 1330mm
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
2360 x 2230 mm
"English patchwork pieces. 1110mm x 1500mm. Hand pieced by at least two people. Made from scraps, cut down clothing and sheeting. Backing made from shirtings, dress fabrics, furnishing fabric and ticking. No synthetics. Machine quilted. Condition, fragile�.." [Dubbo Museum]