Quilt No.756PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Powerhouse Museum
Owner: 
Powerhouse Museum
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Unknown
Made in
AUSTRALIA
Patterms
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
Date: 
1851 - 1880
Description: 
"A quilt or coverlet of natural cotton sheeting with appliqueed motifs cut from a variety of crimson cotton damask. The quilt is hand sewn and nearly square and has a 12 cm border made from the same crimson damasks. The applique motifs consist of a range of hexagons, rosettes, flowers, hearts and stars that radiate outwards from a large centrally placed star shape. All are the same shade of crimson red which suggests they were dyed in the same dye pot. The fabrics are now quite thin and soft which suggests that the quilt, or the fabric it was made from, was well used." [PHM]
1960 x 1950mm
History: 

The quilt was a gift of the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1983. No earlier provenance information available. The quilt is used for research and exhibition purposes only.

Story: 

"Although the identity of the maker of the quilt is unknown, we can presume much about her (or him) from the choice of materials and the design. Because of the apparent reuse of the kind of damask fabrics used to make table cloths and napkins for the patches and the border, we can presume the maker was concerned to practice economy. From the clarity and exhuberance of the design, we can also reconstruct a maker who had an excellent design sense. Because the bold combination of red and white was particularly popular in Ireland in the 1800s, we may even suppose that the maker was Irish." [PHM]

Related Quilts:

Yvonne Hamdorf
Quilt No.1016YH - Yvonne Hamdorf
Wholecloth pram quilt with a top of pink cotton sateen, and the reverse is a more finely woven, ivory, fabric. All over quilting design as main feature, with stylised hearts, leaves and cross hatching. The padding is cotton batting. 870 x 660 mm.
Wholecloth, Quilting as major design element
John Tomkin
Quilt No.1005JT - John Tomkin
Hand stitched, cotton, appliquéd, quilt in a flower pattern on a plain background. Colours are shades of green, apricot and browns. This quilt was known as a 'Bride's Quilt'. Padding is thought to be layers of white fabric raised almost like a wadding. The backing is cotton material. 2470 x 2020 mm.
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Quilt No.811QVM - Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Wholecloth quilt with one side cream wool and one side faded red wool. Red wool is joined with 3 seams by loom length; red appears to be cochineal dyed. Cream wool side appears to have been made from a hand woven blanket with blue selvidge on 2 sides. It is hand quilted in red wool thread; Welsh patterns including clamshell, Welsh pear, snail or spiral. Centre frame has 2 cable borders and the centre corners have fans. The outer quilted border has alternate 4 petal flowers, clamshell, and spirals.
It is padded with hand carded wool.
1950 x 1935mm
Wholecloth, Quilting as major design element
Muriel Hartmann
Quilt No.111MH - Muriel Hartmann
Old jute wool pack opened out and joined together selvedge to selvedge. Ends bound with recycled curtain material.
1550 x 1321mm
Wholecloth, Traditional Wagga, Utilitarian, Typically Australian
Margery Creek for Eugene Creek
Quilt No.408MC - Margery Creek for Eugene Creek
Wholecloth polyester and cotton quilt in deep orange with centre frame of Creek family crest. The crest is machine zig zag appliqued to white background and has a black border. The quilt is machine sewn, hand quilted, has a white backing and a thin black binding on the border. The padding is polyester.
2235 x 1854mm
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
With held as requested
Quilt No.793MO - With held as requested
Wholecloth quilt with top and backing made from coarsley woven linen. The edges are bound with paisley printed material. The quilting pattern consists of a series of whorls in different sizes. The padding is fleece wool.
1920 x 1756mm
Wholecloth, Quilting as major design element