Quilt No.72MC - Mare Carter

Owner: 
Mare Carter
Location: 
NSW South East
Maker
Maker: 
Eva Leota Towe
Made in
USA
Date: 
1921 - 1940
Description: 
A cradle quilt. All cotton. In the tradition of the previous quilts made by Eva Leota Towe. Never used.
1017 x 813mm
History: 

This quilt was made by Eva Leota Towe in southern California, U.S.A just prior to 1930. It was made before the birth of her grand-daughter Mary (now Mare Carter the present owner). It has never been used. In 1950 Mare came to Australia. In 1953 Eva died. "In 1960 my mother brought me grandmother's legacy, her handworks including the quilts, when she visited Australia".

Story: 

"VINTAGE QUILTS 1898-1938
These quilts were made by my grandmother, Eva Leota Towe. Her maiden name was Tussey and she came from Missouri, U.S.A. In early 1900 grandmother moved to Washington State and later to Southern California.
Patchwork was our family tradition. It provided a frugal means to "dress" a home and to make cosy beds which were also pretty. I rarely saw grandmother without her bag of patches and templates handy, rarely saw her sitting idle; usually while chatting or listening to the radio, she'd be quietly piecing together patches which were cut mostly from used garments. Her scissors were kept sharp by my grandfather, she wore out countless thimbles, her needles were regularly pushed in and out of a little sock of sand to ginger up their points. The actual quilting was often done in company with friends who belonged to the Rebecca Lodge. At least one of these quilts is a Friendship Quilt made and signed by those women in 1933.
Grandmother also embroidered, to decorate her tables, her aprons and also her tea-towels which were always made from bleached flour sacks. It embarrassed my Mother and her sister that their underclothes were made from the same materials. Maybe this is why sewing and handcrafts skipped a generation in my family. The contribution my mother made was to keep these things safe and gradually pass them along to me.
My children suffered from allergies. Wool was too itchy, and too hot. The cotton quilts of my grandmother were perfect for our beds here in Australia. Thus we used our legacy to good purpose. Sadly, most of the quilts are now tattered and worn, but much loved for that, and for the affection which she sewed into them. She never made things to be preserved as objects of art. They represent her creativity, her duty as a woman and a home-maker, and her principle means of recreation and sociability."
[Mare Carter, Foxground, 1998]

Eva with grand-daughter
Eva with grand-daughter

Related Quilts:

Betty Johnson
Pieced wool quilt, machined. Rectangles and squares, from a wide variety of materials including tartans, checks, tweeds, herringbones, joined in strips and then the strips joined. The backing is scraps of woollen material with a seal motif aookiqued on. There is no padding.
1350 x 800mm
Cobram Shire Historical Society
Patchwork quilt in Log Cabin pattern, arranged in 'furrows', and made from cottons, wool and suiting fabrics. Centres of blocks are pastel or dark; dark colours are black, brown, purple blue and red. Pastel side of blocks includes a bright pink. Quilt backing is pieced, with a centre rectangle of cotton surrounded by 5 borders of plain and alternate rectangular pieced strips, in wool and suiting fabrics. Colours are black, dark blue, brown, green, grey and pastels. Inner lining is of cotton pieces, to which the Log Cabin blocks have been machined.
1620 x 1360mm
Tongarra Bicentennial Museum
Patchwork cot quilt top made from cotton hexagon patches, featuring a centre rosette with 7 rows of patches around it forming an elongated shape, with rosettes and patches randomly placed on the sides. Quilt has a border of triangles pieced to form squares. Cotton prints with over 50 different patterns. Colours are faded, with red and brown (may be faded green) and mostly pastels. Hand sewn using whip stitch. No padding or backing.
990 x 825mm
Fran Williams
Quilt with centre area of silk triangles framed with small squares and the rest of the top is larger squares. Wide variety of prints and plain materials. There is no padding. The backing is cotton and "E.M.B." is cross stitched in one corner. "Back is interesting as it's all the same fabric, joined but it appears to have been stitched with a running stitch (cf quilting) before it was attached to the front. It was definitely done after being joined as the stitching design follows through the seams." [Fran Williams]
2500 x 2500mm
Kathryn Thompson
Crazy patchwork quilt in a variety of cotton materials. There is no padding. The backing is old flour bags.
2000 x 2000mm
Kaniva District Historical Society
Patchwork quilt of hexagons in 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern, consisting of a dark centre hexagon, a row of light patches, then a second row of dark patches in the same colour as the centre. Each group of patches or 'flower' is joined by white paths. Colours are predominantly red, blue, brown and pale or faded colours. Some fading; some dark colour fabrics have deteriorated. Backing. Hand sewn. Border of quilt and backing sewn edge to edge.
2236 x 1829mm