Patchwork Quilts

Helen Sparkman
Patchwork quilt made from very large pieces of cotton material on one side, with a 100mm yellow border, and on the other side it is almost entirely blue flannelette.
1660 x 1400mm
Ruth Wallace
A hand stitched top in randomly placed diamond shapes in mixed materials, mainly cottons. These are stitched to a flannelette backing. There is herringbone stitching around the border.
1250 x 930mm
Quilt of cotton [pieces], machine and hand stitched, with black knitted [wool] insert.
1940 x 1000mm
The Wilmington Wagga' 1934. Wool and cotton. Hand and machine pieced. Machine quilted. The wagga is made of parts of several worn coats, carefully pieced together so that the linings are visible in places. One coat sleeve has a fur fabric trim and worn areas are patched.
1600 x 1200mm
Machine sewn quilt made from 125mm squares of scraps left over from dressmaking joined in strips and then the strips joined. There is a border of fawn cotton and the backing is the same material. The padding is an old blanket and the border is padded with sheep's wool.
1400 x 925mm
Quilt, hand pieced and quilted and cut in half and made into two curtains. It consists of hexagons in the pattern known as 'Grandmother's Flower Garden' and is in cotton prints and white cotton 'paths'. Some hexagons are joined. The quilt is quilted allover in a variety of patterns in fine close stitching, chevron, single cable, palm leaves, hearts. The backing is cream linen and the padding is wool.
2430 x 1200mm
Quilt made from suitings and cloth patchwork, hand stitched with blanket insert and pieces of knitting from garments.
1900 x 1190mm
Hand sewn frame quilt featuring appliqué. There is a centre square surrounded by two wide borders. The design consists of a large basket in each corner of the square with leaves and buds scattered at random. The 2 borders have flowers and leaves and the outer wide border has a small basket in each side. Colours are pale and strong pinks, blues shading to indigo, browns-beiges and dusty red. The centres of the flowers are all reverse appliqué. There are signs that there has been a backing but it is now one layer. 2700 x 2700 mm.
Quilt made of squares of patchwork suiting, machine stitched with red diamond and rectangle motifs. Made of wool.
1950 x 1010mm
This utilitarian quilt has a top of mainly woollen used clothing randomly pieced in different sizes and shapes. It includes parts of a jumper, a pocket, a sleeve, the back of a coat, a trouser leg, a piece of 'railway issue' blanket. There are many layers and each layer is stitched together by hand. There is no difference between the padding and the top, it is all layers of pieces of clothes. The backing is an old cotton sheet.
1620 x 1300mm
Crazy patchwork quilt made from pieces of velvets, plush and corduroy, in prints and plain. Patches are sewn directly on to a backing with feather and herringbone stitches in pearl thread. Quilt has a 1/2 inch binding of black velvet. Backing is a pea green cotton twill. One of the patches has the dates 1909 - 1948 embroidered on it.
920 x 920mm
The quilt is made from dark coloured tailors' samples. There is no padding and the backing is pieced scraps of cotton.
1950 x 1650 mm
Val Bensen
A scrap quilt constructed in blocks, each block pieced differently and all linked by the same printed cotton. Machine pieced and hand quilted with thread saved from 'feed sacks'. The padding is cotton and the backing is brown checked cotton twill.
2033 x 1677mm
National Museum of Australia
Handsewn patchwork quilt in a mosaic pattern of squares and pentagons. Patches are in very bright coloured print and plain cottons, with 'filler' squares of beige cotton. Quilt is machine stitched to a backing of apricot cotton. There is no padding.
2980 x 1655mm
Log cabin quilt with 90mm squares in cotton materials, white (or cream), faded blacks, dark blues, reds and browns. All the strips are very narrow. No actual padding as such but the quilt is fairly thick because with such narrow strips, there is so much seam allownace. The backing is a light calico.
1715 x 1575mm
Patchwork on canvas lining. Feather stitching around squares. Pattern of cricketers and kangaroos on backing.
1200 x 800mm
Patchwork cot quilt made from hexagon patches in cotton, linen, silk and wool. Checks, stripes, spots, florals and plain are used, in a mix of bright and pastel colours. Backing is of dark brown cotton with an edge of hexagon patches on each long side. No padding. Hand sewn.
1296 x 839mm
Patchwork quilt of hand sewn hexagons in a variety of print and plain cotton fabrics from 1950-1960. Colours are mainly pinks, blues, greens and yellow, with some red, and white. Quilt has a wide border of yellow poplin, which also forms the backing. No padding.
2280 x 1520mm
Patchwork quilt top in Tumbling Block or Robbing Peter to pay Paul pattern, in printed cottons. No lining or backing.
2690 x 2640mm
Patchwork cover made of fine pieces of coloured patterned silks with plain black silks, cut into diamond shapes and sewn together to create the block pattern. No padding or backing.
1625 x 1371mm

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