Patchwork Quilts

Flora Noyce
Log cabin quilt consisting of 36 blocks each 200mm square. Light and dark arrangement with a variety of small patterned cotton materials (floral, spotted, striped) and plains. The blocks are hand stitched on to fine cotton and then joined by machine. There is a 120mm double gathered frill of floral cotton with a beige background. The backing is 2 pieces of cream cotton with repeat floral and musical motifs interspersed with forget me nots.
1500 x 1500mm
Fay Burgess
Hexagonal piece of patchwork made up of 9 rows of rosettes of hexagons in a wide variety of colours and patterns mainly in silks and velvets. It is incomplete. Backing papers are still in the outside rows and also basting threads. Hexagons are joined by fine whip stitching. It is unlined.
1370 x 1220mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt, all cotton including cotton padding filler. The design is 'Dresden Plate' or 'Friendship Circle'. Background is white with multicoloured and patterned triangular pieces forming circles. Hand stitched and heavily quilted.
2235 x 1778mm
Brenda Bird
Suffolk Puff quilt made from a variety of scraps of dress materials including cottons and terylene. It is backed with white cotton sheeting and edged with a frill of white terylene. There is a matching pillow sham.
1740 x 1300 mm.
Glenda Wilkinson
The quilt consists of 2 layers of random pieces of woollen coating and suiting materials machined together, very dark colours on one side and a mixture of dark and lighter on the other. The 2 layers are quilted together with a row of machining and has a folded and machine stitched edge. There is no padding.
1270 x 950mm
Gabrielle Carter
Crazy quilt of velvet upholstery fabrics, and cigar ribbons with surface embroidery. Patches are outlined in embroidery stitches, and one patch has 'Dec 12 1886' on it. There is no padding, and the backing is cotton. 1720 x 1580 mm.
Mare Carter
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
National Gallery of Australia
"The quilt consists of 12 blocks of crazy patchwork with an embroidered border. The quilt is made of 167 different fabrics; most of these are silk. These velvets, printed silks and satins are beautifully embroidered with flowers, household items and Kate Greenway images of children at play. Many of the motifs have a strong influence from the Aesthetic Movement. The edge of the quilt carries a border in maroon silk decorated with tendrils and daisies in very fine embroidery.
The patches are joined with hand sewing and embroidery, however the 12 panels are joined with machine stitching (chainstitch machine stitching). The blue silk lining was hand sewn into position with silk thread." [NGA]
"The quilt does consist of three layers but the central layer is not padding. The crazy patch pieces were sewn together and this was lined with white cotton fabric prior to the embroidery at the edges of the 12 panels being placed. This in turn was lined with a fine blue silk." [NGA] 1810 x 1460 mm
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Large centre rectangle of hexagons in various colours of patterned and plain cottons. It is surrounded by a wide border in a checkerboard of red and white cottons. There is a wholecloth cotton backing. The front and the back have been turned under at the edge and machined. There is no padding.
1829 x 1372mm
The Embroiderers' Guild of S.A.Inc Museum
4 Pieces of a patchwork quilt which was formerly a whole quilt. It is pieced in cottons in blues reds and browns in many prints. There are whole circles and pieced circles against a plain cream calico background. It is wool lined and is quilted. There are the initials 'A.B.' and '1828' on a central piece. The 4 pieces are various sizes.
National Trust of Australia (QLD)
Hexagons appliqued onto sheeting. 5 groups of 6 hexagons in centre of sheet and continuous row of hexagon rosettes around border.
2261mm x 1664mm
Name withheld
Quilt top in postage stamp pattern typical of military quilts. 5 x 5 blocks each 280 x 280mm. Colours are predominantly red, black and cream. Thought to have been made using uniform material from the Crimean war
1350 x 1350mm
National Parks & Wildlife Service of SA
Patchwork quilt of hexagon patches (3.5cm sides approx), handsewn, in cotton fabrics in sprig prints, stripes, checks, florals and plains. Colours are pre-aniline dyes, in lavender, green, red, beige and purple. Centre of quilt is pastel colours with a central patch embroidered in red: 'Elsey Rowbotham her work May 1 1869'. Quilt has a wide border of squares and triangles.Padding is thin cotton. Backing is off white calico. Quilted in parallel lines.
2693 x 2490mm
Barbara McCabe
Patchwork quilt made from rectangles and squares of woollen fabrics from dress making projects. Colours are mainly grey, blue, brown, green, with some red and yellow. Fabrics are plain, cheks and stripes. No padding or quilting. Backing is made of white flannelette sheets. The quilt has been lengthened after it was completed, and the backing sheet has been added to at the same place.
2470 x 1320mm
Mrs. L. M. Chick
Hexagon quilt made by hand from a wide variety of cotton materials. There is no padding and the backing is calico.
2286 x 915mm
Joan McGregor
One side of this quilt is large pieces of check and striped material surrounding a small patterned supper cloth with a border of scrap pieces. The other side is small, floral, check, spotted, striped and plain cotton pieces surrounding a tablecloth. It is machine sewn and is not quilted. The padding is an old woollen blanket.
1825 x 1625mm
National Gallery of Australia
"A medallion or framed quilt in design. There is a central field of small patchwork diamonds, and from this radiates plain stripes of fabric bordering areas of patchwork panels. The edge of the quilt carries bands of red cotton, which are slightly larger at the top and bottom edges, and here the band is additionally decorated with appliqué diamonds. The fabric of the patchwork is cotton in fine plain weave of pale coloured florals and small geometric designs. The framing and border stripes are of bright red twill weave cotton. The small diamonds of the central field are hand sewn, with more use of machine stitching around the outer edge of the quilt.
The quilt is not padded. The patchwork is fully lined with a printed plain weave cotton fabric with a design commemorating Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The design is based on a repeated grid of circles. In the centre of each circle is a cameo of Queen Victoria, surrounded by images of the national flowers of England, Scotland and Ireland: the rose, the thistle and the shamrock. The edge of the front face of the quilt is trimmed with a red and white cotton braid." [NGA] 2380 x 2220mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Machine constructed log cabin quilt using a wide variety of strips of used clothing including cottons, men's suitings and wools. Each square is about 250mm and arranged in the 'light and dark of the fire' variation of log cabin. There is no padding. The backing is brown twill with an orange pattern and is probably a replacement backing.
2180 x 1710mm
Queen Victoria Musuem and Art Gallery
Quilt with log cabin blocks forming centre rectangle with border of crazy patchwork, in silks and velvets, handsewn on to backing of blue, beige, white woven cotton. Log cabin blocks are in rich dark and light rows forming diagonal stripes. The crazy patchwork has edges decorated with yellow and cream feather stitch. Mostly plain materials with some checks and stripes. The quilt appears to have had the edges cut down. The outer border is a dark blue figured velvet. There is no padding and the backing is maroon silk with a woven yellow motif.
1655 x 1215mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Handsewn quilt pieced in red, blue, green and yellow print cottons in 'Lone Star' pattern, with diamond shaped patches. The main star is edged with a red and cream sawtooth border. In each corner is a star made up of 4 rows of diamonds, surrounded by small 8 point stars in red and green. The background material is a cream and brown spot print. The backing is a printed cotton in a small all over purple leaf and bud print on cream. Quilting is in an all over wave pattern.
2320 x 2320mm

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