Quilt No.784CN - Charlotte Nattey

Charlotte Nattey
Owner: 
Charlotte Nattey
Location: 
ACT
Maker
Maker: 
Edith Millington
Made in
IRELAND Cookstown
Date: 
1901 - 1920
Description: 
The quilt top combines various scarps of silk in an informal pattern of flowers made from individual silk petals with a large flower in the centre. There is crazy patchwork in between the flowers. The pieces are sewn on with feather stitch, blanket stitch and satin stitch. There is a 37cm ruffle on the two long sides. There is no padding and the backing is silk.
2140 x 1550mm
History: 

The quilt was made by Edith Mary Millington at Lissan Rectory at Cookstown, Northern Ireland c.1920. It is thought to include parts of her wedding dress dyed and sewn in. It was made for her neice Mildred Millington born 1910. It is now owned by the maker's grand-daughter Charlotte Nattey.

Story: 

"This quilt is totally different from the one done by my grandmother and reflects both changing times and the obviously different character of mother and daughter. This quilt is obviously made by eye and not strict measurements - the stitches are randomly different as the mood took her. It is still very fresh in colour and must have been quite vibrant. I'm sure that it is again scraps of clothing that she utilised.
I knew her as a child as a warm hearted interested woman with wonderful white hair.
She married a country Rector in Northern Ireland and threw herself into community life. She was renowned for always doing things in a rush and maybe forgetting something in the process - this quilt reflects her personality very well.
Life must have been pretty idyllic; no huge income was needed to have 3 or more 'staff' and those to run the farm that came with the Rectory. Food and produce was grown and stored and was used for church fetes etc. There was time for tennis and tea parties and the stories from both my aunt and father reflect an easy life style with time both to laugh and reflect. There was of course a lot of obligation and duty - no time off for holidays and Sunday school, Mothers' Institute, the Girls Friendly Society etc. all to be run."
[Charlotte Nattey 6.4.97]

Edith Mary Millington
Edith Mary Millington
Lissan Rectory, Northern Ireland
Lissan Rectory, Northern Ireland

Related Quilts:

Red Cliffs Historical Society
Quilt with hexagons forming lozenge or honeycomb pattern. Predominantly greens and pinks in brocatelle (rayon brocade). All hand stitched. The backing is lime green rayon. The padding is probably dacron.
1800 x 1630mm
Red Cliffs Historical Society
Log cabin pattern, each block dark and light strips. 4 blocks joined with dark strips to centre to make larger block. 30 large blocks and 2 sides with half blocks. Each block is machined on to calico. Materials include velvets, corduroys, interlock, taffetas and silver lame. There is a 170mm bottle green border and a single piece of mid brown synthetic for the backing. The padding is probably dacron.
2400 x 2100mm
Mr. K.Green
Crazy patchwork quilt made from silk, cotton and velvet in pastels and rich dark colours with a wide border of dark burgundy silk velvet. Decorative embroidery stitches including straight, herringbone and feather edge each piece. Most pieces have embroidered motifs including crown, flowers, horseshoe and Australian motifs of wattle and emu. Date '1891' worked in cross stitch on one piece. The padding is wool and the backing dark red satin and these are joined by diagonal machine stitching in yellow thread.
1750 x 1100mm
Kay Bruce-Smith
Quilt top. The centre piece is appliqued with cross strips and triangles with 'Chester 4 �.' printed on a centre blue strip. The last letters are difficult to read. The borders are triangles, rectangles and squares in cottons (including dimity) and some chenilles.
1860 x 1760mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Patchwork top with a centre frame of a mauve cross outlined in black within a square bordered with pink. The rest of the top is rectangles and squares in a wide variety of materials. There is no padding. The backing is brown, possibly curtain material.
1910 x 1480mm
West Australian Quilters' Association
Repeat block in Dresden Plate pattern using various cotton fabrics from the 1920s. Quilted with a flower in the purple/pink centre and squares elsewhere. Border is furnishing fabric. The padding is cotton that is disintegrating and the backing is calico. 1980 x 2100mm