Quilts

The Pioneer Women's Hut
The top is a wholecloth, coarse, bluish cotton, furnishing weight material, probably part of a curtain. The backing is half the same material and half is part of a brown travelling rug. The padding is 2 heavy pieces of coarse jute bag roughly sewn together with twine.
1600 x 1360mm
Patchwork quilt made from tailors' samples, constructed of 144 rectangles each approx. 100 x 160mm. Colours are greys, blues, browns, fawns, plains and patterned. At the top and bottom edges 16 same size rectangles have been folded in half. No filling. Backing is a cream and brown patterned flannelette.
1880 x 1260mm
Hand and machine pieced top and back using irregular pieces of men's hand and machine knitted jumpers and navy serge. The backing is mainly serge, part of an uncle's bus conductor's uniform. The pockets from the uniform have been left as is. There is no padding.
1850 x 970mm
Quilt top. One of a pair. The centre piece is appliqued with cross strips and triangles with 'Chester 4 �.' printed on a centre blue strip. The last letters are difficult to read. The borders are triangles, rectangles and squares in cottons (including dimity) and some chenilles.
1160 x 1100mm
Mirgation Museum
Unfinished patchwork of hexagon patches in cotton, linen and other fabrics. Hexagons have 3cm sides. Fabrics are a mixture of prints and plains, in bright shades and pastels, with reds, greens, blues and pinks predominating. Paper templates are still in place in sections.
980 x 950mm
This padding originally had a cretonne cover. "The filling was made from a variety of old woollen clothing and worn and patched woollen banket scraps, handstitched together with large running stitches. The pieces of clothing include heavily darned machine and hand knitted socks, a knitted wool bed jacket, part of a baby's machine knitted blue jumper, hand knitted baby's leggings, a number of darned singlets and underpants, a darned knitted pink bootee and other assorted knitted woollen garments and pieces of flannel. Cotton name tags on some of the garments are printed with the name C.S.Yates, the maker's maiden name.
The upper side is covered with an old and torn woollen blanket with many holes and the reverse with cream cotton. The whole is partly machine stitched around the edge and across the filling, and originally had a cretonne cover." [PHM]
Wholecloth quilt with replacement cover (1958) of green damask type synthetic sateen. The padding is 2 old blankets with staples of cross bred wool hand tacked to one blanket.
1400 x 1210mm
Patchwork quilt of diamond shapes in cotton fabrics. Patterns include florals, spots and stripes, and colours are navy, red, pink and grey. No padding. Backing is of strips of cotton in pinks and fawns sewn together.
2236 x 1931mm
This traditional Greek quilt has one side of deep pink satin and the other side of gold satin. It is machine quilted with a centre diamond in which are large butterfly patterns set within curvilinear and crescent shapes. The borderis 3 parallel lines. The padding is cotton wadding.
1940 x 1660mm
Quilt, Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern, has hexagon flowers with plain centres and floral material for 'petals', and paths of mid to dark blue. Cotton fabric. No padding. Backing is of unbleached calico.
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
Patchwork quilt made up of machine pieced squares and rectangles of cotton dress materials. The backing is a large piece of furnishing material. The padding is an old cream blanket.
1750 x 1350mm
"Welsh wholecloth quilt - red on top and cream on back. Combination of traditional Welsh patterns including circles and diamonds. Quite large quilting stitches (due to thickness of quilt I think). Top (red cotton) just about worn away, and was cut in half by my grandfather in the 1950s to make it fit 2 single beds." [Anita Phillips]
The padding includes pieces of wool suiting, jumpers and a piece of mohair and the backing is cream cotton.
Each piece measures approx. 2000mm x 1000mm.
The front face of this quilt consists of rows of rectangles and squares of multicoloured prints pieced together. The fabrics are cotton and include a few early synthetics such as rayon, and all work is machined. The back is fully lined with an olive green moire synthetic fabric. The lining has been brought around to the front face of the quilt for approx 5cm to provide an edge border. The quilt is a wonderful showcase of the fabrics of the 20's and 30's." [NGA]
The quilt is not padded. 2160 x 1910 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
"This patchwork is pieced from twelve contained panels of Crazy Patchwork. Each panel is formed of rich silks of various weaves and textures couched on to a calico ground, each patch overlaid to create interesting 'artistic' shapes and contrasts. The rug is backed with gold polished cotton and bordered in blue and green cotton to three edges, maroon to the fourth. Embroidery in several colours, but predominantly gold, is used to advantage in the variety of stitches which define the edges of the pieces, and occasionally on the patches themselves."
[Historic Houses Trust ' Sydney Quilt Stories' catalogue]
1880 x 1500mm
Quilt of men's suitings. Machine stitched, red backing.
1800 x 1100mm
The top of this quilt is made from men's suiting samples and the backing is cream cotton. It is machine stitched. There is no padding and no quilting.
2160 x 1550mm
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 top. "Handsewn (edges machine sewn only). Quilt, poor, faded, torn. Red and white patches. Red star and white circle with 4 diamonds in centre. Red and white triangle pieces and plain border. No padding or backing."
[K.D.H.S. 19.2.1997]
2030 x 1941mm

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