Typically Australian Quilts

Ida Blenkiron
Rectangular quilt with front and back made of rectangles of cotton samples of shirt materials, in checks, stripes and plains. Colours are soft muted reds, greens, blues, yellows and browns, and pastels. Construction is 3 to 4 rows of rectangles joined across the quilt. Padding is probably an old blanket. There is a row of hand quilting approximately the width of one patch in from the edge, holding the layers together.
1870 x 950mm
E Shuttle
Wholecloth quilt made from orange cotton cretonne for back and front. Padding is made from old blankets stitched together. The quilt weighs 16 lb.
1423 x 1118mm
West Tamar Historical Committee
Wholecloth quilt with both sides of floral cotton. The padding is thought to be hessian bags.
2060 x 1300mm
Annette Gero
Utilitarian quilt made from large pieces of wool, flannel and cotton. Machine construction and the padding is wool.
1570 x 152Omm
N.S.W. Parks and Wildlife Service
Large double sided quilt of rectangles and squares of men's suitings, patterned and plain on both sides. The top has a central motif of a circle of three segmented rings radiating from a single hexagon. The outer ring is all tailors' samples and the inner rings are a variety of materials. There is some featherstitching in red. The quilt is sparsley machine quilted.
Ruth Collins
Patchwork quilt of rectangular wool and cotton tailors' samples, in browns, greys, navy, black and beige, in plains and patterned weaves. Padding is a woollen blanket, and the backing is a patterned cotton.
1956 x 1702mm
Agnes Pratten
Thick padding for a wholecloth quilt constructed from pieces of old woollen clothing. The backing is a calico sheet. Originally had a cretonne cover.
Diana Cameron
Small patchwork piece possibly made from salesman's samples. There is no opening in the back so it is not a cushion cover. There is no padding. The backing is green polished cotton. There is a 40mm fringe around the edge.
520 x 520mm
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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