Patchwork Quilts

Muriel Thompson
Quilt is twelve pieced repeat blocks, each featuring a hand appliquéd lady with a parasol. Hand pieced and quilted. Each block has floral and solid fabrics. Cream background. Padding is cotton, and backing cream. This is probably a kit quilt. 2200 x 1700 mm.
Margaret Munchenberg
Patchwork quilt made from diamond patches in blue and white taffeta, with the central motif of a large and small flower basket made in red floral cotton and the baskets in black and white check cotton. No padding. Backing is cream taffeta. Handsewn.
3260 x 2130mm
Annette Gero
Large silk hexagon quilt with a centre motif of hexagons then a square of hexagons smaller than the rest of the quilt. It is hand pieced over papers using the English method. A backing of green cotton is more recent.
2370 x 2230mm
Cressida Mary Webb Challis
Random pattern of whipstitched hexagons surrounding central hexagonal frame with radiating rows in turkey red. Many papers are still in place. The materials are thought to date from about 1880 to 1900 and are subtle colours in reds, blues, purples and creams. There is no padding. The backing is beige linen machine stitched at the edge.
2060 x 1740mm
Mary Holland
Unfinished piece of hexagon patchwork with letters as templates still in place. One hexagon has date '1876' and one has a 2p postage stamp. Wide variety of materials, mainly cottons, a few printed wools, linens, some glazed furnishing fabrics, some block prints. All hand stitched.
560 x 510mm
Jenny Martin
Hand pieced frame (medallion) quilt. Small hexagons in centre surrounded by triangles and then rectangles. Fabrics are often end of roll pieces with maker's marks. Small prints in mainly creams and browns. The backing is pieced pyjama fabrics. There is no padding. 2130 x 1670mm
Annette Gero
Double sided quilt made from mainly rectangular pieces of woollen tailors' samples and suiting materials. It is machine sewn and there is no padding.
1000 x 940mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Quilt pieced in silks and velvets in Log Cabin pattern, the blocks set side by side. There is a dark blue cotton velvet binding. The backing is machine quilted dark blue cotton, the machine quilting in diagonal and straight lines.
2080 x 1090mm
National Trust of Australia (VIC)
Woollen patchwork, mostly 17mm squares, in a heavy closely woven felt like material in red, black, yellow, blue, green and pink. Some larger motifs of pieced stars and crosses, some outlined with a narrow appliqued braid. There is no padding apparent. The backing is a khaki coloured cotton twill fabric. It may originally have had a border or fringe, now removed.
2280 x 1380mm
Jenny Martin
Frame (medallion) quilt with plain red centre and radiating rows of floral dress patches with the outer border large pieces of furnishing fabrics. Various colour ways of the same pattern so possibly came from sample books. There is no padding and it is machine quilted. The backing is patchwork with large pieces of florals and furnishing fabrics. 2190 x 1760mm
Annette Gero
Hand pieced and embroidered crazy quilt in silks, satins, velvets and ribbons. It is signed 'L.Dawdrey, Melbourne' and dated 1889. The embroidered motifs include, a spray of wattle worked in wool, two naval badges, a kettle, fans, beetles, a shamrock, roses, hearts.There is also one log cabin block.
1900 x 1700mm
Jenny Martin
Repeat block in churn dash pattern. Machine stitched with design in a variety of patterned fabrics against a white background. 2 shades of mauve stripping separate the blocks. The quilt is very damaged and faded. The padding is cotton and the backing white cotton. It is hand quilted in 1/4 circles. 2000 x 1720mm
Powerhouse Museum
"A Northumberland quilt made from strips of saffron and white cotton; each strip is approximately 170mm wide. The quilt is hand quilted with a different pattern in each stripe: the saffron stripes have quilted plant patterns and the white stripes have curving leaf and floral patterns. The quilt is padded with white cotton wadding and backed with white cotton fabric." [PHM]
2250 x 2110mm
Annette Gero
Log Cabin quilt in silk, velvet, satins, ribbons, hand pieced and tied. 238 blocks and 6000 strips of material. There is a ruffle all around that is possibly a later addition.
1720 x 1520mm
Annette Gero
Unfinished silkTumbling Block quilt top, pieced over papers many of which remain. Some are parts of hand written letters with dates, one piece of newspaper has the date '1885' and the words 'Adelaide Milling' and 3/6 to 3/9'.
2630 x 1430mm
Powerhouse Museum
"A double sided rectangular patchwork quilt with blanket inlay. On the face side, the patchwork pieces are arranged in long rectangular strips, laid 'log cabin style' and dimishing in size, around the rectangular medallion. This is composed of a column of 5 patches with narrow strip borders. The colours are strong in the centre of the quilt and become softer toward the edge. The patches that make up individual strips are the same toning with a variety of dot, stripe, check and small floral patterns. The quilt has been hand and machine stitched.
The reverse of the quilt has been similarly structured, with rectangular and square patches forming borders around a central rectangle. The patches however are arranged in rows of the same fabric but in different colourways. Most fabrics are striped with a secondary floral pattern while others are bolder. The presence of fabrics in different colourways suggests they may have been taken from a swatchbook." [PHM]
1920 x 1630mm
Annette Gero
Quilt top of hexagon rosettes each with 4 rows of hexagons around one in the centre. It is hand pieced over papers and the papers include cut up old letters and envelopes and several of the papers are dated 1830 and 1831. In the centre of the quilt is a small square of chintz depicting a cupid amongst flowers. Materials include cambrics, chintzes, muslins and dimities and the quilt owner noted that these types of materials were imported into Australia from England around the 1830s.
2740 x 2310mm
Powerhouse Museum
"A rectangular patchwork medallion quilt or coverlet, machine sewn from delicately coloured plain and printed cotton shirting fabrics in fine stripe, spot and check patterns. The fabrics were probably obtained from a manufacturer's superceded swatchbook. The design is of medallion type with a central rectangular panel surrounded by three deep borders, all separated by narrow strip borders. The central panel and deep borders are made from small triangular patches that form dynamic geometric patterns of squares, diamonds and chevrons. The quilt is backed with patched white cotton fabric, probably sheeting, and is bound around the edges with cotton strips."
1810 x 1700mm
Powerhouse Museum
"Medallion quilt pieced from square, rectangular and triangular pieces from plain and patterned cottons. Central motif is appliqued in red cotton on white background with kangaroo and emu on either side of a shield. Four stars are randomly placed on the white background. There is no padding. The backing is pieced together from different types of white material." [PHM]
2265 x 1975mm
Annette Gero
"This crazy quilt is unusual in that it contains diamond shaped blocks. It is signed 'L.A.D. 1883' in the centre and contains a myriad of Victorian images. There are several embroideries of children copied from Kate Greenway's children's book 'Under the Window' (1878). There are also butterflies, Japanese fans, some of which are hand painted, elaborately embroidered flowers, a tea cup, spiderwebs, and a dragonfly. The quilt may have been made as a present as it contains a horse shoe, a symbol of good luck." [Annette Gero] The materials used in the quilt include silks, satins, brocade, grosgrain ribbons and it is hand pieced and embroidered and appliqued.
1600 x 1190mm

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