Quilt No.986VD - Virginia DeFriest
Owner:
Virginia DeFriest
Location:
VIC Melbourne
Maker
Maker:
Virginia DeFriest
Made in
KENYA
Patterms
Date:
1941 - 1970
Description:
The quilt consists of 9 large rectangles each depicting a house in which the owner and her husband lived in overseas. Each house and location is identified. The houses are appliquéd and embroidered detail has been added to the houses and gardens. Plain cotton rectangles are in between the appliquéd houses. The padding is an old woollen blanket and the backing is pale green cotton percale. The quilt is tied at intervals through the 3 layers. 2180 x 490 mm
History:
The quilt was made by the present owner and is still owned by her. It is still used.
Story:
Virginia and her husband married in 1950. Her husband's work took them to many countries including Kenya, Sierra Leone, New Zealand and Ghana. Virginia appliquéd and embroidered representations of 12 of the houses in which they lived. The quilt was started in 1964 and houses were added as they moved. In 1964 it was awarded second prize in the Royal Agricultural Society of Kenya's show in Nairobi. The certificate reads "Most interesting quilt. Delightful."
Virginia DeFries about the time she made the quilt.
The house in Accra, Ghana depicted on the quilt second from the bottom on the right.
Related Quilts:
The quilt's construction is cotton patches about 170mm square joined in strips and then the strips joined. The border and backing are pale lemon coloured cotton lawn. The padding is an old woollen blanket. There is ric-rac braid around the border of the top.
2180 x 1420mm
2180 x 1420mm
Quilt made with a rectangular centre panel of cotton fabric printed with red poppies and black flowers in a japanese style. The panel is surrounded by a wide black satin border. The backing is of black cotton, covering a previous backing of green floral cotton fabric. The padding is feathers.
1700 x 1370mm
1700 x 1370mm
Patchwork quilt of pieced repeat blocks in cotton in white, blue, green, orange and red prints, plains and checks. Blocks are set between green sashes with white corner blocks. The pattern is 'Saw Tooth Star' or 'Jacob's Ladder' variation. Backing is of cotton, padding of cotton. Hand sewn and hand quilted.
2058 x 1296mm
2058 x 1296mm
Repeat block in Ohio star pattern. Wide border of triangles, pieced blocks and stripes. Stars are in greens, pinks, mauves (all now very faded) and white. Wreath quilting in squares with smaller wreath quilting in triangles. There is padding and the backing is a poly/cotton sheet. 2500 x 2450mm
Large double sided quilt of rectangles and squares of men's suitings, patterned and plain on both sides. The top has a central motif of a circle of three segmented rings radiating from a single hexagon. The outer ring is all tailors' samples and the inner rings are a variety of materials. There is some featherstitching in red. The quilt is sparsley machine quilted.
Frame quilt, hand and machine sewn, centre square of squares (7 rows by 7 rows) of 2 triangles, with red border. Alternate rows of triangles, rectangles, 'flying geese' border, squares, squares set on point with triangles, wide red border. Hand quilted throughout in chevrons, single cables and single scallops. The padding is a hand woven cream wool blanket and the backing is cream cotton twill.
2330 x 2030mm
2330 x 2030mm