Quilt No.75HAS - Friends of the Hawkesbury Art Society

Friends of the Hawkesbury Art Society
Owner: 
Friends of the Hawkesbury Art Society
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Sophia Wilbow
Made in
AUSTRALIA NSW
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Tumbling Block
Date: 
pre 1850
Description: 
Patchwork Quilt consisting of diamond shapes forming a Tumbling Block pattern. All cotton, mainly patterned pieces, with signs of blotting paper templates. Hand sewn. The outer border of patches consists of off-cuts from nurses' uniforms of the times as 2 of the maker's daughters were nurses. It is thought most other squares were probably from material samples from large city stores such as Anthony Horderns. Backing is red cotton in a paisley design.
2030 x 1890mm
History: 

The quilt was made by Sophia Mary Wilbow (1829 - 1924) in the Windsor district of NSW between 1890 and 1896 and passed by maternal descent to her great grand-daughter. Sophia gave birth to 14 children 9 of whom were girls. She made a patchwork quilt for each daughter and this one was made for Grace. Grace never married and after the death of her younger sister Jane the quilt passed to Victoria who was the only daughter of Louisa (third daughter of Sophia). Victoria married Austin Gruber and they had one child, Joyce (later Hedges) who inherited the quilt after her Mother died in 1962.
In 1998 Joyce Hedges donated the quilt to the Hawkesnury Art Society

Story: 

Sophia M. Wilbow was born in 1829 at Pitt Town NSW to William Henry Payton and his wife Mary, nee Ward. Mary Payton died in 1837 aged 27 when Sophia, the eldest,was still a child. Sophia married Thomas Mitchell Wilbow in 1846 and she gave birth to 14 children, 9 of whom were girls. One was very retarded and one died when young. Sophia and Thomas lived in the Windsor district (near Sydney) where Thomas was a farmer and hotelier.
"Sophia was a great needlewoman, and did embroidery as well as plain sewing, and never used a sewing machine. She made a patchwork quilt for all of her daughters���the last quilt she made was for her youngest daughter Jane and it was 'special'. It was the only one she made with the hexagon pieces, each piece being only the size of a 10 cent piece�." This quilt has over 7000 pieces and in 1991 Joyce Hedges (great grand-daughter of the maker) donated it to the National Gallery. Another of Sophia's quilts, the one made for Elizabeth b.1866, is part of the collection of the Yass and District Historical Society Inc.
After Sophia Wilbow's death in 1924, aged 95, two of her unmarried daughters, Grace and Jane, lived on in their home "Colmier", 17 Dalhousie Street, Haberfield, Sydney.
In 1998 Joyce Hedges donated this quilt of Sophia's to the Hawkesbury Art Society at Windsor NSW.
[Family information from Joyce Hedges 27.3.97]

Sophia Mary Wilbow
Sophia Mary Wilbow
Joyce Hedges, great grand-daughter of Sophia 1998
Joyce Hedges, great grand-daughter of Sophia 1998

Related Quilts:

Barbara McCabe
Quilt No.197BM - Barbara McCabe
Patchwork quilt made from squares of cotton fabrics, from curtains, left over from dress making projects, and new fabrics. Colours are bright primaries and some pastels, prints are checks, florals, stripes and plain. Pieces were stitched together without any particular order. No padding or quilting. Backing is a cotton bedspread in turquoise and blue stripes.
2520 x 1600mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Square
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Quilt No.554NPW - N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Double sided quilt. Side 1 has a central patch of small rectangles and borders of half square triangles. Seamed construction. Side 2 is crazy patch in wools and cottons on to a backing material. There is one round segmented circle in the centre. Machine pieced and quilted.
2050 x 1610mm
Patchwork, Frame
Lyn Uppill
Quilt No.220LU - Lyn Uppill
Patchwork quilt of hexagons, handsewn, in print and plain cottons and rayon. Central star group has diamond shaped groups of patches, with smaller flower shapes, an inner border of a star shape in yellow hexagons, and an outer border of hexagons in vertical bands. Colours are mainly blues, reds, greens and yellow, the 'paths' and border are a pink print. The backing is herringbone stitched to the border or sashing, which has mitred corners.
2400 x 2340mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Hexagon
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Quilt No.617PWH - The Pioneer Women's Hut
Machine constructed log cabin quilt using a wide variety of strips of used clothing including cottons, men's suitings and wools. Each square is about 250mm and arranged in the 'light and dark of the fire' variation of log cabin. There is no padding. The backing is brown twill with an orange pattern and is probably a replacement backing.
2180 x 1710mm
Patchwork, Pieced Repeat Block, Log Cabin, Pieced Random
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Quilt No.561NPW - N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
The top is strips of mainly wools in blue, maroon and purple. The backing is imitation fur in brown and grey. They is no quilting. The padding appears to be a double sided pieced quilt from men's suitings or tailors' samples.
1500 x 1130mm
Patchwork, Strip
Art Gallery of South Australia
Quilt No.301ASA - Art Gallery of South Australia
Patchwork quilt in the Tumbling Block pattern in light and dark silks in bright colours. On both sides and at the bottom is a wide border in Tumbling Blocks, the pattern vertical at the sides and forming a triangle centre bottom, with an edge on both sides of two black bands with pieced diamonds between. Made for a poster bed. Hand sewn.
1790 x 1750mm
Patchwork, Mosaic, Tumbling Block