Quilt No.984VD - Virginia DeFriest

Virginia DeFriest
Owner: 
Virginia DeFriest
Location: 
VIC Melbourne
Maker
Maker: 
Unknown
Made in
USA Arkansas
Date: 
Unknown
Description: 
One of a pair for twin beds. Frame quilt entirely in rectangles of squares radiating from small central rectangle. Alternating rows of plain and patterned cottons. All squares are on edge. Padding is cotton and backing is plain white muslin. 2220 x 1540 mm.
History: 

The maker is unknown but it is thought the quilts were made in Arkansas USA. They were owned by Mr. and Mrs. Homer DeFriest and now by their daughter-in-law. Both quilts are still used and each is kept at the foot of the twin bed in the owner's home.

Story: 

The quilts were given to the present owner and her husband in 1955 and went with them to the various countries in which James Ellis DeFriest worked: Kenya, Sierra Leone, New Zealand, Ghana and Australia.

Related Quilts:

Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt, all cotton including cotton filling. "8 pointed star" with turkey red surround, white background. Hand stitched and hand quilted.
2109 X 1727mm
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
Patchwork quilt made from hexagon patches of cotton, silk, brocade, sateen and wool. Some silk patches are individually lined. Colours are mainly red, blues, purple, black, yellow and brown, with some pastels. Many silk patches have disintegrated, showing the paper templates. Quilt has a brown cotton inner lining, then a blue cotton backing, and is edged on the reverse with checked silk. Hand sewn by more than one person: one experienced sewer, one not so experienced.
1370 x 1170mm
Helen Sparkman
Hexagon quilt made from dressmaking scraps from one neice. The quilt top only is complete and a few papers are still attached.
2250 x 2000mm
National Gallery of Australia
"This is not a true quilt, but a pieced coverlet with a lining. The entire front face of the quilt is of pieced hexagonal and part hexagonal printed cotton patches. Pieces are joined with hand sewn over casting stitches of many different coloured cotton threads. The joining of the patches forms a 'daisy' pattern in some areas and in others it is random. The edge of the front face of the quilt carries a 40mm strip of cotton Chinoiserie which is then folded to the reverse of the quilt and becomes part of the lining. The template for the hexagon patches remains in many of the patches: writing paper and news print." [NGA]
The work is not padded "The lining at the edge of the quilt (for approx.175mm) is a plain weave fabric of a Chinoiserie design. The centre field of the lining is a rectangular panel of a twill weave brushed cotton fabric with a striped floral design." [NGA] 2215 x 2070mm
National Museum of Australia
A 'Farm Life Quilt' made from alternate squares of beige linen and brightly coloured cotton headcloth. The coloured squares are farm animals and birds in a variety of embroidery stitches. The beige squares have a cornucopia design embroidered in dark brown stem stitch. There is a wide border front and back of beige linen. The backing is brown and white check cotton. There is no padding.
Joyce Lannin
The centre of the quilt is a small blue 6 pointed star surrounded by a larger blue star. Blue stars also form a border to the quilt. The background material is a multicoloured small floral pattern on white cotton. The quilt is all hand worked over templates. The padding is cotton and the backing is polyester sheeting with a border of stars.
2650 x 2475 mm