Patchwork Quilts

Kay Bruce-Smith
Quilt top. The centre piece is appliqued with cross strips and triangles with 'Chester 4 �.' printed on a centre blue strip. The last letters are difficult to read. The borders are triangles, rectangles and squares in cottons (including dimity) and some chenilles.
1860 x 1760mm
Old Government House
Patchwork quilt in Log Cabin pattern made from silks, velvet, cottons and taffetas, in prints and plain, around a centre squares of black velvet. Colours are, in the dark sections, blues, greens, browns, yellow and pinks. The base of the blocks is blue and white ticking. The padding is probably cotton. Backing is of green cotton. There is an attached frill on all sides of green cotton, faded to dull light brown.
1630 x 1350mm
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
West Australian Quilters' Association
Repeat block in Dresden Plate pattern using various cotton fabrics from the 1920s. Quilted with a flower in the purple/pink centre and squares elsewhere. Border is furnishing fabric. The padding is cotton that is disintegrating and the backing is calico. 1980 x 2100mm
Annette Gero
This domestic Wagga is two layers of woollen army blankets with the top layer in rectangles joined in rows. The backing is hessian bags that originally contained meat meal.
11650 x 1130mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Single bed quilt made up entirely of hexagons in 'Granny's Flower Garden' pattern. The rosettes are made up of 8 hexagons and a central one. Native flower prints, including wattle, on a white background. Plain hexagons in white, yellow and blue form a scalloped border. Hexagons are hand stitched and the 2 layers are quilted in running stitch. The backing is a pieced sheet.
2400 x 1500mm
Tess Davidson
Hand stitched quilt of suiting materials. Centre rectangle also suiting materials but arranged with a smaller scale, is edged with a cord of red fabric covering string. The outer red border has been renewed by the owner and closely matches the original. The backing is ticking. There is no padding.
2390 x 2110mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt in 'Pyramid Charm' pattern. Made in the USA and thought to have come from Louisiana. Hand pieced and hand quilted with the quilting following the triangular shapes. The quilting is quite coarse. The backing is black printed material and there is cotton padding.
1931 x 1855mm
Elizabeth Williams
Cotton quilt of plain and patterned hexagons, 6 joined to make a flower. The flowers are arranged in rows with single motifs filling the spaces. Hand sewn. The backing is heavy red cotton material. There is no padding.
2490 x 1803mm
National Trust of Australia (SA)
Randomly patched quilt in many different colours and fabrics. There are appliquéd shapes over many pieces including Suffolk Puffs, hearts, hexagons and other shapes. There is an embroidered inscription "A11 to S11 1829" which is thought to mean AN to SN 1829. There is no padding and the backing is white cotton.
2000 x 2200mm
Margery Creek
Double Wedding Ring' cotton pieced quilt. Machine constructed and hand quilted. Padding is Mountain Mist cotton. The backing is unbleached calico.
2160 x 1855mm
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
Western Australian Quilters' Association
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
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
Julie Bos
Allover pattern in woollen dress materials in blue, grey, navy, black and pink. Hand stitched. The owner suggests it was made in the 1950s or earlier. It is not used.
910 x 1250mm
Art Gallery of South Australia
Patchwork quilt made of hexagons in cottons in a variety of prints. The patches are arranged in the 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' pattern, with dark patches around a light centre patch. The 'paths' are cream cotton. The border is made from diamond shapes placed alternately vertical and horizontal, between two edges of red striped fabric, with mitred corners.
No padding. Backing is red cotton, embroidered 'M.A. Wilson 1863'. Handsewn.
2500 x 2170mm
Margery Creek
This utility quilt is mainly constructed from long strips of cotton seed sack material. It is machine pieced and quilted by hand in a diagonal pattern. There is a red border. The backing is cotton flannelette and the padding is cotton.
1601 x 1525mm
The Temora Rural Museum
All cotton hexagon quilt using a wide variety of colours and patterns. The hexagons were hand stitched by Sylvia Schleibs in the same style she and her daughter, Norma Gilchrist, had previously made 3 hexagon quilts. There is a calico border and backing.
2000 x 1450mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Patchwork quilt made up of 100mm multi coloured squares in a variety of materials including cottons, synthetics, lurex, plain and printed. Each square has dacron padding and is then joined in strips and the strips joined. All hand sewn. The backing is blue synthetic whole cloth 60mm of which is returned to the front to form a border.
1500 x 1200mm
National Gallery of Australia
"The Rajah "quilt" is a patchwork and appliquéd bed cover or coverlet. It is in pieced medallion or framed style: a popular design style for quilts in the British Isles in the mid 1800's. There is a central field of white cotton decorated with appliquéd (in broderie perse) chintz birds and floral motifs. This central field is framed by 12 bands or strips of patchwork printed cotton. The quilt is finished at the outer edge by white cotton decorated with appliquéd daisies on three sides and inscription in cross stitch surrounded by floral chintz attached with broderie perse on the fourth side. All fabrics used in the Rajah quilt are cotton with the exception of small amounts of linen and silk threads. The quilt shows evidence of being produced by many hands." [NGA] The quilt is not padded or lined. 3372 x 3250mm

Pages