Patchwork Quilts

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
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
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
Beryl Warne
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
Annette Gero
Quilt top of hexagons in silks and satins, pieced over papers in the English tradition. Some paper templates still in place. One states: 'Semi - Monthly Regular Clipper packets to New Zealand, Port Phillip, Sydney�2nd of each month..Adelaide' suggesting it may have been from a shipping timetable.
1580 x 1830mm
Mildura and District Historical Society
Quilt of 2025 hexagons stitched together to form diamond patterns. Hand sewn using paper templates. Materials are cottons and plains typical of the thirties period. The backing is blue cotton and the quilt is bound with many rows of coloured bias binding through which is treaded window cord. There is no padding. The quilt is called 'Grandmothers' Flower Garden quilt'.
2439 x 1829mm
Wendy McPhail
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
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
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.
Sandra Jones
Crazy patchwork quilt in silks and velvets. Centre circle of embroidered flowers and outer border of diamonds in tunbling block pattern. Most pieces have embroidered flowers and all joins are embroidered in fancy stitches. The owner's mother had a pink silk quilted backing and a thick edge cord added to the quilt by Rocke's of Collins street Melbourne c.1960
1620 x 1595mm
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Crazy patchwork on to foundation material with the edges of the pieces turned under and machined. It is not quilted. A 25mm red binding has been machined on. There is no padding. The backing is red wholecloth cotton.
1940 x 1540mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork Quilt, all cotton including filling. Pattern is "squares and diamonds". Quilt is faded but blue is probably the predominant colour. Hand stitched and hand quilted.
1624 x 1194mm
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
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
Small quilt made from pieces of heavy weight wooollen coat material cut into strips and machined together. It is reversible. Each side is made from different materials but in similar colours of aqua, blue, green and beige. The 2 layers are quilted together with a few machined lines of straight stitching. It has a folded and machine stitched edge. There is no padding.
950 x 790mm
Una Braby
Frame quilt pieced from square, rectangular and triangular pieces from plain and patterned cotton. The central motif of the rooster is appliqued in red cotton on white background with a border of red triangles. There is a white cotton backing.
2000 x 1925mm
Irene Treneman
Cotton quilt, checks, plains and patterns. Machine construction. Rectangles stitched together in strips and then strips joined. The backing is a cotton print. There is no padding and no quilting.
2420 x 1220
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
Annette Gero
Utilitarian quilt made from large pieces of wool, flannel and cotton. Machine construction and the padding is wool.
1570 x 152Omm
Rozanne Andrew
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
Colleen Whitaker
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.
Pearl Holland
This is one of two single bed quilts in a pattern the owner calls 'Martha Washington's Flower Garden'. Flowers are in six hexagons in a variety of prints with a plain coloured centre. The background is cream, and the backing is calico. 2500 x 1800 mm.

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