Quilts

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
Ida Blenkiron
Patchwork quilt of square and rectangular patches, mainly in cotton fabrics, in plains and prints. Colours are predominantly yellow, pinks, blues and prints on white. Backing is the same except there is a piece of patterned curtaining material as a patch across the middle width. Padding is old blanketing.
1830 x 1140mm
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Rug made from 54 Platypus skins; 6 rows of 9 rectangular pelts, brown with creamy yellow edges, machined together. The backing is red felt or baize and extends beyond the top with a punched scalloped border. The backing is hand stitched to the top and has a centre motif of a flower outlined in black braid within a large black rectangle. 1890 x 1635mm
Ankie King
Small square piece of crazy patchwork in silks and taffetas. Many of the seams are oversewn with decorative embroidery stitches. There is a calico backing.
550 x 550mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt made in the USA. The pattern is 'Double Irish Chain'. It is machine pieced and hand quilted. The backing is calico and the padding is cotton,
2134 x 2134mm
Annette Gero
Cotton frame quilt with a diamond in the centre of the frame and a border of straight pieces. The outer border is diamonds. The quilt is hand sewn and hand quilted.
1910 x 1830mm
Margery Creek
Cotton quilt made in the USA. The pattern is 'Turkey Tracks'. It is machine pieced and very finely hand quilted. The backing is calico and the padding is cotton.
1880 x 1753mm
Illawarra Historical Society Inc
Wholecloth quilt, both sides cretonne in different rose patterns. 120mm double frill matches each side. Padding is possibly hessian bags. It is hand quilted in large stitches in white/cream cotton in strips with circles, diamonds and scrolls repeated.
2070 x 2030mm
Joyce Lannin
Hand sewn patchwork quilt with a pattern of blue stars. Each star consists of hexagons in the centre with part diamonds forming the star shape. The quilt is made from scraps. It is not padded and the backing is cotton and has a hexagon star border. 2660 x 2470 mm
Arlene Crane
Cotton patchwork quilt in double wedding ring pattern in pastel prints. Quilted in a design of geometric flowers. Padding is probably cotton wadding, backing is cream calico. 2270 x 1970 mm.
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Patchwork quilt made from diamond patches in a variety of cotton materials set in a 'tumbling block' pattern. Patterns include geometrics, stripes, a 'Kate Greenway' print and colours are largely soft pastels, dark browns, with some reds and blues. The quilt has been cut down and a later border added. There is no padding and the backing is cream cotton.
2279 x 2000mm
National Trust of Australia (NSW)
Hand pieced and quilted quilt in silks, wool and cotton dress materials. The centre is a hexagon star in pink and yellow with black points. Most of the body of the quilt is pieced in Tumbling Blocks with an outer border of triangles. The backing is pieced from large rectangles of blue satin, rust-brown moire taffeta and brown-grey silk in a 'rectangle within a rectangle' pattern. The quilting is all over and finely done in yellow thread in a variety of patterns including snails, petalled flowers and hearts.
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
Sharon Stacy
Wholecloth quilt of white cotton with hand appliqued flowers in 3 shades of red. The centre of the quilt has 6 separate flowers radiating from a circle and each corner has a separate arrangement of flowers. The white cotton quilting is in diagonal lines and a daisy pattern. There is a narrow red border widely scalloped. The backing is white cotton. There is no padding.
2236 x 1905mm
Jeanette McGeoch
Crazy patchwork quilt made from pieces of silk, velvet, silk ribbon and brocade in a variety of patterns and plains, in a range of colours. All patches are edged with embroidery, in blanket, feather, herringbone and other stitch variations. Many patches are embroidered with flowers, butterflies, leaves and initials of family members, and there is some beading. 1901 is embroidered in one corner. Quilt has a wide border of gold velvet. Patches are stitched to a base fabric. Backing is dark green sateen.
1470 x 1060mm
Mare Carter
Patchwork quilt of pieced repeat blocks in cotton in white, blue, green, orange and red prints, plains and checks. Blocks are set between green sashes with white corner blocks. The pattern is 'Saw Tooth Star' or 'Jacob's Ladder' variation. Backing is of cotton, padding of cotton. Hand sewn and hand quilted.
2058 x 1296mm
Nancy Dunlap
Quilt top in block design based on hexagons in a variety of patterned cotton with a plain pink hexagon in the centre. The hexagons are linked by triangles of pink cotton. Cottons include florals, stripes, checks, tartans and novelty prints. 2080 x 2300mm
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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