Quilts

Patchwork quilt made from hexagon patches in cottons. No filling or padding. Backing is of green cotton.
2050 x 1600mm
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
Quilt made from suitings and cloth patchwork, hand stitched with blanket insert and pieces of knitting from garments.
1900 x 1190mm
Cotton quilt in green, red and white paisley print. It is sewn with 4 bands and 2 irregular centre shapes. The reverse side is identical to the top side. The padding is feathers.
1660 x 1400mm
Helen Sparkman
Patchwork quilt made of hexagon patches from satin scraps. Hexagons are in solid colours and joined to make rosettes. Hand sewn.
1800 x 1025mm
Embroiderers' Guild Victoria
Hand appliqued and quilted white cotton quilt with Hawaiian type design in pink. There is a scalloped border also in pink and the backing is fine pink cotton. The padding is 'Mountain Mist'.
2300 x 1600mm
National Trust of Australia (SA)
Patchwork quilt of hexagons in silks and velvet, the velvet in plain colours, the silk in plains, stripes, checks and brocades. Centre is made from red brocade hexagons with black silk patches embroided with a variety of flowers and leaves. Stitched to a red velvet border, then top and bottom have Australian motif of crossed wattle branches embroidered in bobble stitch, and on the sides embroidered red flowers. The rest of the quilt is made of hexagons, the edge stitched to a brown silk border, then a border of triangles and a striped edging. Surface embroidery. Crepe backing. Some newspaper templates remain.
2260 x 1720mm
Wholecloth quilt made of two layers, the top in white cotton sheeting and the backing in a heavier white cotton twill. The layers are joined by quilting, handstitched in a chevron pattern using a coarse white cotton thread. The edges of the quilt are bound with strips of white cotton sheeting. Three edges of the quilt have a scalloped sedge with the top edge of the quilt straight.
Pencil marks are still visible, marking out the chevron pattern.
2630mm x 1920mm
Helen Sparkman
Suffolk Puff quilt in a wide variety of cotton materials patterned and plain. There is no backing.
11900 x 1350mm
"The quilt is made entirely from over 7300 hexagons cut from scrap materials, and is hand stitched throughout using the 'English' method of quilting. Scraps of plain unbleached calico were used for the background with the pattern pieces cut from plain and floral fabrics in shades of blue. The design is medallion style, with a large central diamond surrounded by two concentric diamond borders beyond which are scattered different sized hexagonal rosettes, all made from hexagon patches in the same size. The pattern patches were cut from the offcuts of dresses and dressing gowns made at a friend's factory and from another friend's dress material scraps." [PHM] There is no padding. The backing is 'Actil' unbleached sheeting dyed pale blue and attached with a blind stitch to the quilt top. A central rosette set within a large diamond of hexagons decorates the back and is stitched through to hold the 2 layers together.
2720 x 1880mm
Patchwork cot quilt, the top made from patterned and plain hexagons (110mm diam.) mainly in cottons, approx. 99 hexagons in total. Handsewn and stitched to a centre piece of material. Back is made of irregular pieces of cotton fabric, checks, florals, in squares or rectangles. Total of 3 layers in the quilt.
1310 x 1000mm
Patchwork quilt made from rectangles and squares of wool fabric, sewn into strips and then sewn together. Both sides are pieced using family clothing, cut up and reused.
1449 x 1017mm
Norma Gilchrist
Cotton quilt with overall pattern of hexagons joined to make 'flowers'. Brown paper templates were used. All hexagons are hand stitched including on to the blue border which was then machined on to the same blue headcloth backing. The materials used were mainly scraps, including some from an aunt of the present owner, and are in a wide variety of patterns and colours. There is no quilting.
2110 x 1700mm
Wagga, made from 2 jute bags split and hand-bound along the seams.
1870 x 1130mm
Cotton appliqué quilt in green and pink 'Rose of Sharon' design, against a white background. Finely quilted with feathers between flowers and feathers on the border, with some cross hatching. Padding is cotton, and backing is white cotton. 2250 x 1700 mm.
Norma Gilchrist
Cotton cot quilt in checkerboard pattern. 30 squares each 180mm machined together. Alternate squares have Australian birds fancyworked in stem stitch and chain stitch using 2 threads of coloured stranded cotton. Alternate squares are plain royal blue and there is a royal blue border 120mm wide. The backing is the same royal blue cotton.
1340 x 1070mm
This is an Adelaide Chronicle pattern reprinted in 'The Weekly Times'.
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.
Pieced animal skin quilt made from 25 cat skins, in blocks of five across by five down. No filling. The backing is of heavy maroon wool felt which also forms a border around the skins. The majority of skins are in good order, with some bare patches. 2040 x 1160mm
"This is a hard quilt to date. Quilting design has been (I would say) pre stamped. Heavily quilted. Some applique stars - I think polished cotton. Seersucker backing, quilting not quilted on back (seersucker). Padding is some kind of cotton perhaps cotton wool that has disintegrated to the corners. This quilt has been well made but a little bit worse for wear now." [Lyn Cross]
1500 x 1200 mm.
Wholecloth quilt of white linen with signatures embroidered in satin and stem stitch. Approximately 400 signatures as well as the names of district servicemen are arranged in flower shapes and geometric grids. Embroidered title on the quilt reads: 'Rylstone Autograph Quilt. For our Australian wounded, Dardanelles, 1915.' There is no backing.
2580 x 1730mm

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