Quilt No.982SB - Sheila Bruhn
Owner:
Sheila Bruhn
Location:
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker:
Changi Prison Girl Guides
Made in
SINGAPORE Changi Prison
Date:
1941 - 1970
Description:
Quilt constructed of blocks of hexagons with 72 'flower' rosettes made from plain and printed cotton scraps. The centre of each rosette has the name of one of the Girl Guides embroidered on it. The one in the centre of the quilt has the Trefoil insignia outlined in satin stitch. The background is white hexagons. There is no padding and it is backed with white cotton. 1880 x 960mm
History:
The quilt was made by Girl Guides in Changi prison camp in 1942. Elizabeth Ennis, who started the project, took the quilt to Scotland with her when she left the camp in 1945 after the war ended. 'Trish' Ennis gave it to the present owner, Sheila Bruhn, in April 2001 and it is now with Sheila in Australia.
Story:
This Girl Guide quilt was put together by a group of girls in Changi Prison. The guide group was started by Elizabeth Ennis, an army nursing sister, with the help of a young Dutch girl, Trude van Roode. There were about 20 to 30 girls between 8 and 13 and they collected oddments of material in the camp. The girls' names are recorded on the quilt.
Related Quilts:
The body of this quilt is hexagons. This centre piece is surrounded by an applique border of birds and flowers and donkeys on see-saws. The flowers have been elaborately pieced from a great variety of materials. Some of the birds have pres studs for eyes.
Patchwork top made in the Log Cabin pattern in cotton fabrics, 10 x 10 squares. Hand sewn. Most fabrics are patterned, colours in darks and lights include blues, red and pink, greys, browns. The wide border is made from 3 rows of blunt ended triangles (tumbler), the edge is bound with a narrow strip of patterned grey and white fabric. Each corner of the border has 3 chequered squares set on the diagonal. Hand sewn, the binding is machine sewn. No padding or backing.
2360 x 2340mm
2360 x 2340mm
Double sided quilt made from woollen suiting pieces some of which have hand worked eyelets. Many of the rectangles are irregular. Both sides use similar pieces but arranged in different patterns. There is no padding.
2160 x 1524mm
2160 x 1524mm
Double sided patchwork quilt/rug constructed from squares machined together in strips and then the strips joined. The squares average about 27cms. The materials are mainly woollens, fleck tweed, school jumpers, gren check, and chenille and all are from used clothing.
1800 x 1170mm
1800 x 1170mm
Unfinished crazy parchwork quilt using a wide variety of mainly cotton scraps in patterns and plains. Machine sewn on to calico base.
1956 x 1677mm
1956 x 1677mm
Double sided patchwork quilt. One side has a centre of pieced hexagons enclosed by borders of plain strips and pieced stars and squares. The other side has a printed Royal Coat of Arms (lion and unicorn) 'Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense, Dieu Et Mon Droit', surrounded by wide borders of plain and printed materials in the style of frame quilts.
2400 x 2300mm
2400 x 2300mm