Quilt No.766PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Owner:
Powerhouse Museum
Location:
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker:
Unknown
Made in
ENGLAND
Patterms
Date:
pre 1850
Description:
"An unfinished quilt in traditional 'Pinwheel' pattern, handsewn with linen thread using the English method. The quilt is composed of sixteen large hexagonal blocks made up of square, diamond and triangular patches around a central hexagon. The central motifs and outer borders are of block printed floral and geometric patterned glazed cotton chintz, with plain white cotton chintz as the background. The patches still have their original paper templates in place; many of these are covered with handwritten numbers and are perhaps from a school exercise book. A collection of templates,...
History:
"The quilt was given to the museum in 1987 by Mr and Mrs N D Cook of Bowral, NSW. The grandparents of both Mr and Mrs Cook came to Australia from England, and they are not sure which side of the family brought the quilt here with them." [PHM]
Story:
"The fabrics from which the quilt was made are of different dates, the earliest probably dating to the late 1700s, and were probably collected over several years. They are in new condition which suggests the maker was well to do and patchwork a pleasant way to pass the time rather than an economic necessity. The quilt was probably made in England around 1840 and brought to Australia some time after that." [PHM]
Related Quilts:
Irregularly patched from a variety of cotton dress prints, checks, plains and mattress ticking. 1920s and 30s fabrics. Both top and back are similar. Hessian padding. Originally two single quilts, now stitched together.
1850 x 1720mm
1850 x 1720mm
Cotton quilt of hexagons in 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern. Hand stitched. Machined to a cotton backing. There is no padding.
2480 x 1950mm
2480 x 1950mm
Machine stitched quilt made from tailors' samples cut into squares. The colours are mainly greys, browns and fawns. There is no padding and the backing is a grey herringbone heavy woollen material with a white fleck. This is folded back to the front to make a 75mm border and finished with a dark grey braid where it meets the patchwork top. 1525 x 1225mm
Hexagon quilt in pattern known as 'Grandmother's flower garden'. Hexagons of prints and plains with yellow centre to each flower, and plain pink outlines. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. Padding is cotton, backing is cream cotton. 2200 x 2000 mm.
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The top has a segmented circle in the centre surrounded by a border of small rectangles. The circle is featherstitched on to the background. Materials are wools and cottons and it is hand pieced. The other side appears to have been originally men's suiting materials strip pieced. It is now covered with a children's print in light cotton joined in long rectangles. The padding is coarse heavyweight cotton.
1410 x 1080mm
1410 x 1080mm