Typically Australian Quilts

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
June Brown
Rectangular cot quilt of green floral cretonne with pleated frill. Machine made. The backing is the same material. It is tied not quilted. The padding is old woollen jumpers.
1050 x 610mm
National Trust of Australia (QLD)
Quilt made of tailors' swatches, machine constructed around a central frame that is mainly mid brown pieces. This is surrounded by rectangles of mainly charcoal greys and the outer border is navy blues. The backing is a heavy cotton with random green and cream and grey stripes.
1651 x 1220mm
Joan Bradford
Utility quilt with wholecloth top and backing of twill upholstery material. Machine construction. Padding is 2 layers of wool blanket. Stitched through all 4 layers.
1474 x 1093mm
Marian Russell
Patchwork quilt made from squares of wool, cotton, tweed, corduroy, tartan and stretch knit fabrics. Colours are mainly reds, greens, blues, pink and orange, mostly solid colours with some checks, stripes and florals. Padding is an open weave hessian material. Backing is a loosely woven cotton, pieced, buff coloured with a woven red and orange thread. Machine pieced, machine quilted in a large rectangle.
1601 x 915mm
Muriel Mackenzie
Wholecloth utilitarian quilt with velour type material top and cottage weave curtain material on the back. The padding is a 'bush blanket'. Machine sewn and quilted.
1677 x 1144mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
The quilt is constructed from machine pieced diamond shaped striped flannel materials. The backing is the same. The padding is not visible but is thought to be worn out woollen clothing, unpicked and ironed flat.
1520 x 970mm
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
National Gallery of Australia
" The quilt is a patchwork of red cotton fabric. Each piece is decorated with embroidery in thick white cotton thread and with cotton appliqué. The edge of the quilt is decorated with a red cotton unlined border strip decorated with cutwork daisies, producing a scalloped edge. The images and inscriptions carried on each of the pieces of various sizes are a time capsule to notions and everyday life at the turn of the century.
In the centre is Queen Victoria surrounded by a garland of floral emblem of the Empire. (This square is dated 1901) Other squares carry scenes of daily life, farm animals and mottoes. "When a woman throws herself at a man head she seldom hit the mark." There are several spelling errors within the inscriptions. The latest dated piece is 'Dec 1903'. The embroidery is quite crude and large, and shows the work of two hands." [NGA]
The quilt is not padded. It is lined with pink cotton flannelette. 2230 x 1910mm
Diana Garder
Grey woollen army blanket backing with multi-coloured pieces sewn in a random way; includes pieces of jumpers, socks, rugs with crochet flowers added etc. Quilt is a rectangular shape, the colours are mainly blues, pinks and maroon. Bottom third of quilt and part of one side are made from a striped rug, the remaining two-thirds are made from pieces of recycled clothing and decorated with crocheted flowers.
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
Powerhouse Museum
"The quilt has been machine- pieced from rectangular swatches of men's woollen fabrics in shades of blue, grey and black, and in various weaves including stripes, checks, chevrons and spots. The swatches are offset at right angles to each other in such a way as to create strong zigzag bands of light and dark along the length of the quilt. The join at the corner of each swatch is marked with a hand-stitched cross in red cotton. The backing has been removed, showing the pinked edges of the suiting swatches. A yellow-brown piping band, possibly the remains of the backing, is sewn around all four sides." [PHM]
2080 x 1620mm
Annette Gero
Domestic Wagga made from wheat bags sewn together and covered with large pieces of material.
1400 x 1230mm
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.
1670 x 1220mm
Joyce Lacey
Wholecloth utility quilt, the top made of good quality cotton printed with posies of pink, blue and green flowers and leaves, the backing of plain cream cretonne, with a flap of plain cretonne, coming over the top side. Padding is made from blanket and jumper pieces stitched to a blanket base. Cretonne has signs of wear, and the cream backing has some staining. Top and backing machine sewn.
1840 x 1220mm
Annette Gero
Machine sewn wholecloth quilt with padding of several layers of part army blankets. The cover has been made from fabric widths of 700mm. Machine quilted.
2100 x 1800mm
Art Gallery of South Australia
Patchwork crazy quilt in silks, cotton and velvet has an appliquéd golden brown velvet star with black points in the centre. All seams have embroidery, mainly herringbone or feather stitch. The outer border is a light tan velvet. Quilt has a variety of appliquéd and embroidered motifs, including horseshoes, tennis rackets, kettle, cross tombstone, butterflies, hearts and an emu. Backing unknown. Handsewn.
2025 x 2680mm
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
Covered on both sides with corded floral chintz, probably originally curtains. Not attached to padding. Padding is worn grey blanket onto which has been stitched (with large running stitches) a variety of unpicked and part woollen garments, including a navy overcoat (with pockets), handknitted garment (possibly a singlet) and herringbone tweed skirt. The cover and lining are currently separate, outer stitching unpicked by the donor for washing prior to donation and not re-attached.
1780 x 1040mm
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
Quilt, machine sewn, has one side of floral cretonne, red floral on cream background. Other side is of fawn cotton knit, irregular shaped pieces with a mixture of straight and curved edges, edges are turned under and the top stitched together. Padding appears to be old blankets, possibly with other material sandwiched in between as it is lumpy.
770 x 340mm
Brisbane Valley Historical Society
Quilt is made from layers of complete clothing covered with calico and stitched through all layers by machine. Clothing used includes a full skirt, a shirt, and a nightgown. All fabrics are cream. Cover has been replaced by others as the calico wore. White ants have eaten part of the quilt, exposing some of the clothing used as padding.
1880 x 1067mm

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