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:
Quilt, single bed size, made from reused clothing roughly handstitched on to a backing of a wool/linen blanket type fabric in green, cream and brown stripes. Clothing is fronts and backs of old jumpers, vests etc as well as opened out sleeves in red, brown and grey. They are stitched together in several layers with long stitches. Another top may have been intended to cover the stitched down layers of clothing.
1500 x 1040mm
1500 x 1040mm
Quilt top, all cotton. Center frame is 600mm square of calico on to which is appliqued red material in an elaborate cut out design. Radiating rows of mainly red and blue triangles. Other materials include, white with abstract plants scattered across it, pink with pin print white dots, white and maroon herringbone with small white flowers with maroon leaf sprays spread 25mm apart. The border is a strip of red not hemmed but with selvedges on the long sides. The quilt is all hand sewn with small back stitch, running stitch and hemming.
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
1800 x 1630mm
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
1750 x 1100mm
Quilt made from furnishing materials, mostly velour type or uncut moquette. The colours are dusty pinks and beige/camel/blue. It has been put together by making wide strips of various sized rectangles sewn together and any missing piece in a rectangle added by using another piece of material to complete the shape. There is no padding and the backing is winter cotton.
2000 x 1650mm
2000 x 1650mm
Machine sewn reversible quilt. Side 1 is rectangles of men's suiting samples in mainly grey, navy and black, stripes and self patterns. Side 2 is men's suiting samples but also includes woollen rectangular pieces in plain blue and deep pink. There is a hand sewn binding of fine orange-brown wool. The padding is hessian and cotton.
1460 x 1100mm
1460 x 1100mm