Patchwork Quilts

Red Cliffs Historical Society
Hexagonal log cabin quilt. Hexagons constructed of strips with half hexagon dark and half light. These hexagons are then joined to form diagonal light and dark stripes. Machine and hand sewn. Materials are wools, printed cottons, velvets, corduroys, rayons, flannelettes, brocades, pique and taffetas. The backing is a single piece of brocatelle (rayon brocade). There is probably a thin layer of padding.
1400 x 1200mm
Annette Gero
Frame quilt or coverlet with centre frame surrounded by floral printed panels. The centre is cotton chintz block printed material in madder colours. It is hand quilted.
2700 x 2700mm
Helen Cornish
Patchwork quilt in the Log Cabin pattern, each square 14cm x 14cm, made of used cotton fabrics with a fine wool fabric as the centre square of each. Colours are mainly reds, blues, greens and maroon, and pastels, in prints and plains. Quilt has a wide border of dark blue cotton with mitred corners. The padding is black and white mattress ticking, and the backing is the same dark blue cotton as the border. Machine stitched.
1770 x 1170mm
Virginia Solomon
Log Cabin quilt featuring centre square and 3 outer borders. Evidence of later repairs and additions by machine and hand sewing. There is white paint on it. The log cabin pieces are sewn on to black netting. There is no padding and the backing is a centre piece of gold damask/sateen and green and black sateen borders.
1728 x 1321mm
Wangaratta Historical Society
9 large blocks of crazy patchwork in silks and velvets. The blocks are divided by strips of deep ruby coloured silk. There is a wide ruby border with peaks to which is attached cream lace. The backing is beige silk. The main blocks are outlined with feather stitch in gold thread and many individual patches are outlined in fancy stitches and have embroidered motifs some of which are Australian eg centre patch has Sturt's Desert Pea flowers, parrots, wattle. There are also English flowers, Japanese motifs, flags, domestic objects and Marianne's initials. Embroidery is in a variety of threads including chenille.
2250 x 2180mm
Val Ireland
Utilitarian quilt. The top and backing are machine pieced scraps of curtain material and clothing pieces. The centre is an old blanket and possibly clothing pieces.
2033 x 1525mm
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
Annette Gero
Hand pieced hexagon quilt or table cover with centre motif of hexagons within hexagons. The remainder of the quilt is mainly hexagon rosettes. The materials are silks and brocades and it is pieced over papers in the English tradition.
1710 x 1600mm
Anne Langford
Hexagon quilt with rosettes centred in an all over diamond pattern. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. All the materials are either linen or pure cotton. The quilt is padded with batting (American) and the backing is floral cotton.
2360 x 1800mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt made in the USA. Pattern is the 'Evening Star' and each star has a frame. It is hand pieced and hand quilted and uses shirting material. It has been modified along two sides where the block extension is visible, having been turned to make a hem. The backing is calico and the padding is cotton.
1829 x 1575mm
Lora Busellato
Machine pieced cotton quilt, in random design of geometric pieces. Materials used are cotton sheeting, dress fabrics, broderie anglaise, and seersucker. There is no padding, and backing is white curtain lining.
1540 x 1150 mm.
Lurline Lydiard
Unfinished crazy patchwork quilt. Materials are mainly silk, velvet, woven ribbons, woven brocades. Hand embroidery using many different stitches also machine embroidery eg frog. Some individual patches have names, initials, dates probably relating to family members. There are also place names several of which may refer to Australia. Apart from the embroidery on individual patches there are overlaid a number of floral displays across parts of the quilt. Backing is flannelette with selvedges of blue and pink. 1300 x 1300mm
June Johnson
Hand sewn cotton cot quilt with pattern of red and white lozenge shaped hexagons measuring approximately 65mm from top to bottom. A centre flower is constructed from 2 circles of 19 hexagons in red and white. This is surrounded by 8 smaller hexagon flowers. Additional single red hexagons are scattered at random on the white background around the rows of flowers. The quilt is not quilted or tied but is attached at all 4 edges. Writing on the back of the quilt (probably added later) reads "Made by Sarah Hodge, Newport, Wales UK for her first child John." There is no padding and the backing is white cotton. 1000 x 1250 mm.
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
Lyn Cottingham
Single bed quilt hand pieced from silk hexagons using the English method. The border, backing and central rosette of hexagons are black. All other hexagons are a mixture of plain colours, stripes and florals. They are randomly placed. It is quilted in a diamond pattern. The padding is a thin cotton woven material.
1550 x 1330mm
Cobram Shire Historical Society
Patchwork quilt in Log Cabin pattern, arranged in 'furrows', and made from cottons, wool and suiting fabrics. Centres of blocks are pastel or dark; dark colours are black, brown, purple blue and red. Pastel side of blocks includes a bright pink. Quilt backing is pieced, with a centre rectangle of cotton surrounded by 5 borders of plain and alternate rectangular pieced strips, in wool and suiting fabrics. Colours are black, dark blue, brown, green, grey and pastels. Inner lining is of cotton pieces, to which the Log Cabin blocks have been machined.
1620 x 1360mm
Ann Hockey
Patchwork quilt made of small squares pieced from four triangles. Each square is 90mm and is joined to the others by a herringbone lacing in yellow rayon crochet thread, so making an open mesh between each square. The quilt is edged with thick yellow rayon corded braid. Each square is backed with gold coloured cotton. No padding.
1730 x 1430mm
National Gallery of Australia
" Reversible patchwork quilt of woollen suiting in grey, blue, navy, maroon and brown. The fabrics appear to be new tailor's sample pieces (the sizing is still present on the fabric, signifying it has never been washed). The patches are rectangular and vary in size. Both sides have different designs. The front of the quilt has 4 rows of 12 vertical rectangles then below this are 4 rows of 7 horizontal rectangles followed below by 4 rows of 11 vertical rectangles. The reverse of the quilt has a section at the top and bottom composed of 5 rows of 9 horizontal rectangles. The central area is made up of a centre section of 6 rows of 5 vertical rectangles; flanked on either side by a column of 10 horizontal rectangles and two columns of 8 smaller vertical rectangles.
The patchwork layers are joined at the edges with machine stitching. The patchwork layers and padding are machine quilted on the front down 2 vertical lines following joins in the patchwork; therefore not being totally straight. The lines are more noticeable on the reverse as the 2 sides do not match. The front face is displayed at the NGA.
Between the patchwork layers is a striped cotton blanket in black, sky blue, white and cream." [NGA]
2082 x 1386mm
Ruth Flett
Quilt is made of wool tailors' samples, each measuring 6 x 3 1/2 inches. The colours are predominantly navy and grey. Most pieces are striped but some more distinctly than others. Both sides are mad eof smaples, one side being mainly grey and the other almost exclusively navy. There doesn't seem to be another layer of material as padding. There is no added decoration. Made on a treadle sewing machine.
1703 x 1423mm
Jillian Towers
Hand pieced patchwork quilt with blue and black checkerboard central frame surrounded by 4 borders of irregular sized rectangles. Mainly dress materials with possibly some furnishing material. It is not quilted or tied. The backing is a large rectangular red check table cloth with 3 borders of irregular shaped pieces down 2 sides and 1 border down 2 sides. There is no padding.
1860 x 1730mm

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