Quilts

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 Queensland Women's Historical Assoc.
Hexagon rosettes of printed and plain cotton in a flower pattern. Incomplete, top layer only.
2439 x 1981mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt in 'Pyramid Charm' pattern. Made in the USA and thought to have come from Louisiana. Hand pieced and hand quilted with the quilting following the triangular shapes. The quilting is quite coarse. The backing is black printed material and there is cotton padding.
1931 x 1855mm
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Rug made from 40 quoll skins, 8 skins set in 5 rows. Skins are trimmed to rectangles and machine stitched together. Colours range from light cream to grey-brown with creamy yellow spots. The backing is dark green woven wool which extends beyond the top and is finished with a scalloped, punched edge. It is hand sewn to the top. 1575 x 1255mm
Elizabeth Williams
Cotton quilt of plain and patterned hexagons, 6 joined to make a flower. The flowers are arranged in rows with single motifs filling the spaces. Hand sewn. The backing is heavy red cotton material. There is no padding.
2490 x 1803mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Patchwork quilt made up of 100mm multi coloured squares in a variety of materials including cottons, synthetics, lurex, plain and printed. Each square has dacron padding and is then joined in strips and the strips joined. All hand sewn. The backing is blue synthetic whole cloth 60mm of which is returned to the front to form a border.
1500 x 1200mm
Shirley Maywald
Patchwork crazy quilt in velvets and silks, no pieces over 4" long. Colours are black, maroon, pinks, blues and pastels, and all seams embroidered with coloured silks in herringbone stitch. Backing is green, there is no padding. Quilt is bound with black velvet 1/2" wide. A patch near the centre is embroidered: '1909' and '1948'.
940 x 915mm
Molly Palmer
Patchwork quilt with repeat blocks of Log Cabin pattern in cottons. One side of the square has blue fabrics, the other side has pink. Blocks are separated by a floral and a blue strip. The quilt is finished with a dark blue border on 2 sides, and a light and dark blue border on the other 2 sides. Dark blue binding around edge. Hand quilted with a cable pattern on the borders. Padding is probably synthetic. The quilt is backed.
Margaret McMillan
Cotton log cabin double bed quilt. Each square has 52 pieces (i.e. 13 pieces x 4 to make a square). There are 192 squares so a total of 10.092 pieces. There is probably no padding. The backing is calico with a floral pattern done in running stitch.
2200 x 2200mm
Maria Patounas
The cotton quilt top is blue featuring a floral design in the centre and a matching border. The main quilting pattern relates to this. There is a wide gold cotton border with a quilting pattern of parallel lines and diamonds. The backing is plain red cotton. The padding is cotton wadding.
2040 x 1750mm
Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Burnett
Tumbling Block quilt made from pure silk ribbons, patterned and plain. The quilt edge follows the block shapes. The backing is polished cotton printed with flowers.
2743 x 2439mm
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
Julie Treacy
Animal skin rug made from rough rectangles of kangaroo skins, hand sewn together with leather thonging. Backing is woollen blankets. 2135 x 2057mm
Mrs. F.A.C.Clemons
Quilt made from blocks in a fan pattern, 5 blocks across by 6 down. Fans are set on a black background, materials are wool and cotton in a mixture of plains and patterns. Edges of fans are decorated with cream herringbone stitch. Machine pieced with hand stitched repairs.Cream cotton backing folded over to make binding, stitched with pink herringbone stitch. Tied regularly with pink thread. The quilt is padded with wool.
2000 x 1720mm
Margery Creek
This utility quilt is mainly constructed from long strips of cotton seed sack material. It is machine pieced and quilted by hand in a diagonal pattern. There is a red border. The backing is cotton flannelette and the padding is cotton.
1601 x 1525mm
Jean Winchester
Patchwork quilt of hexagon patches with a large central group of 14 rows, then groups or 'flowers' of 6 patches placed over the rest of the quilt. The colours are red, black, white and blue, in a mixture of stripes, florals and plains. No padding. Backing is a double bed sheet. Hand sewn.
2591 x 2566mm
National Gallery of Australia
" A coverlet of 7 pieces of cream muslin. The edges of the work are secured at the top and sides with bands of green and floral strips. The lower edge has been turned and hemmed. The 'quilt' is highly decorated with bands and diamonds of appliqué fabric. The upper centre field is appliquéd with images depicting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden surrounded by trees and a variety of animals and insects. In the centre is a smaller appliquéd image of the manger with mangel and cows. The quilt is not signed or dated, but each of the imaged areas is accompanied by a descriptive text. The writing is executed in black chain stitch. Beads and sequins have been used to depict the eyes of some of the animals in the Garden of Eden. As with all of Mary Jane Hannaford's quilts all work is hand sewn and quite crude and coarse in execution. The quilt is not padded or lined." [NGA] 1810 x 1590mm
Western Australian Museum
Possum skin rug made from rows of possum pelts sewn to a woollen blue checked blanket. 1720 x 1370mm
Annette Gero
Hand pieced frame quilt with centre frame and borders of squares set on point. There is a blue patterned border. The backing is white and it is finely quilted. "The fabrics themselves are all absolutely typical of the period [1830 t0 1840] and many, if not most, of them can be found as illustrations in historical textile reference books - in this respect the quilt is virtually a book chapter in itself and has a particular value to a quilt historian. At about this period in England cottons and chintzes were being produced in great quantity and were relatively modestly priced." [Annette Gero]
2540 x 2540mm
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

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