Quilt No.762PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Powerhouse Museum
Owner: 
Powerhouse Museum
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Elizabeth Garrett
Made in
AUSTRALIA VIC
Patterms
Patchwork, Mosaic, Rectangle
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
"A double-sided patchwork quilt machine-pieced from plain and patterned rectangular woollen patches, each 130 x 200mm. The fabrics came from a tailor's swatchbook of men's, and possibly women.s, suiting samples and are mainly in tonings of olive green, brown, blue and cream. The two layers are bound together with a pieced border strip that forms the outside edge. There is no filling or quilting." [PHM]
2140 x 1660mm
History: 

The maker was Elizabeth Garrett , born Elizabeth Butler about 1870 and died 1946. It was made about 1910 at Box Hill Melbourne. The quilt was passed from Elizabeth Garrett to her daughter Elsie Garrett Hanna, and then to Elsie's daughter Mrs. Val Skinner of Mosman. Val Skinner gave the quilt to the Australian Costume and Textile Society and it subsequently came to the Powerhouse Museum when the ACTS collection was transferred there in 1983. It is used for research and exhibition purposes only.

Story: 

"The family landed at Portland and joined the gold rush; later they moved to James Street, Box Hill, where this quilt was made and later still moved to the bush outside Melbourne. Elizabeth was one of seven girls and one boy and was the dressmaker for the family. Elizabeth was married and had three children at the time the quilt was made, around 1910. Her first daughter Elsie was born in 1893."
"In January 1986 Val Skinner, the maker's granddaughter, said that everyone in the family used the quilt when they went camping and that later on, when they could afford to buy bed covers, it went under the bed." [PHM]

Elizabeth Garrett c.1910
Elizabeth Garrett c.1910

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
Kristine Gray
Quilt No.546KG - Kristine Gray
Double sided quilt. One side is frame with borders of wool rectangles mainly offcuts of men's suiting from tailors' shops. The other side is mainly flannelette in stripes and patterns similar to pyjama material. The padding is pieced patches of worn jumpers that were too matted to be unpicked. Machine construction.
1700 x 1490mm
Patchwork, Pieced Random, Typically Australian, Re-used clothing or blanket
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
Eileen Dinning
Quilt No.480ED - Eileen Dinning
Double sided silk quilt. One side is paisley designs and the reverse plain silk . Machine pieced. There is a thin padding possibly sheeting.
2694 x 2287mm
Patchwork, Pieced Random
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
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Quilt No.886NTNW - National Trust of Australia (NSW)
" Double bed size coverlet made of white cotton 'blue bags' fabric (white cotton squares used to hold a measured amount of blueing agent used to keep linens white during the laundering process). Patches are sewn together in the 'Suffold Puff' style - a circle of fabric is gathered up to make a puff. Patches are joined by a few stitches on four sides. Coverlet is edged with a deep crochet fringe, to a depth of approx. 18cm on all four sides���On lining is written in black ink: 'C.Bleagard Baby Ken'. " [NT NSW]
2570 x 2380mm
Patchwork, Suffolk Puff