Quilts

Quilt of floral linen and cotton with a damask centre. Lined with raw cotton and filled with kapok.
1800 x 1350mm
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
Rug of 24 dingo pelts varying in colour from honey gold to dark brown and joined in a random arrangement. The tails are attached to each square. The backing is navy blue felt with a scalloped edge. 1830 x 1650mm
Handworked patchwork quilt. Pattern of squares as diamonds. Woollen materials.
1520 x 1520mm
Embroiderers' Guild Victoria
Wholecloth bedcover with all over pattern in crewel (wool) embroidery. The background is beige linen and the embroidery is flower motifs with a flowing leaf pattern border. It has a backing but no padding.
2280 x 1770mm
Patchwork quilt consisting of 40 squares, with 8 rectangles along one side. Each square is covered with a random number of diagonal strips sewn one over the other onto a backing. Number of strips varies from 15 to 19. Variety of coloured materials, plain and patterned. Strips are hand sewn on to mainly white backing. Top edge is bound with self patterned pink satin, added at a later date by machine.
2090 x 1400mm
Animal skin rug made from squares of kangaroo skins placed in a diamond pattern, with a row of dark brown fur diamonds along one side. Original backing was red felt; there is some remaining along the egde of the rug. The rug was machine sewn. 1423 x 1169mm
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
Norma Gilchrist
Quilt entirely made of hexagons joined to make 'flowers', 6 hexagons form the petals and one in the centre. The quilt is all cotton in a wide variety of colours in plains, checks and florals. The hexagons are all hand stitched using stranded cotton. There is a plain blue border of headcloth machined around the edge to the backing material. It is not quilted The materials were almost all from the scrap bag. Brown paper templates were used. This arrangement of hexagons is one variation of a pattern commonly called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'.
2040 x 1720mm
Patchwork quilt made from darned cardigan sleeves in green, grey, cream and black [wool] stitched to a top layer with a blue wool running stitch. No padding. Backing is a green and cream bedspread.
"This is a pieced patchwork quilt comprised of 216 squares. Each square is comprised of 10 diagonal strips that have been joined by being attached to a backing. White cotton plain weave fabric has been used in all the pieces. The quilt is not lined, but the edge is decorated with a fine cotton frill, 15cm deep. The frill carries two 4mm tucks and is edged with 2 cm lace trim. All sewing on the quilt is by machine. The quilt is not padded." [NGA]
2420 x 1690mm
"The front face of this quilt consists of panels of multicoloured prints pieced together into squares set between a grid of machine embroidered bands in yellow and maroon on white muslin. The fabrics are cotton and include a few early synthetics; all work is machined. The back is fully lined with yellow cotton flannelette, machined at the edge and 5cm in from the edge. The quilt is a wonderful showcase of the fabrics of the 20's and 30's." [NGA]
The quilt is not padded or quilted. 2370 x 2340mm
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
Quilt top of patches of tailors' samples and men's suiting pieces in dark colours, mainly black and grey. Machine construction. It has a border of rose coloured velveteen and the backing is a single piece of cream patterned flannelette.
Quilt in crazy patchwork, in velvet, silk and cotton, decorated on seams and patches with embroidery. Padded with flannelette, and backed with damask. Quilt has an olive green frill around the edge.
190 x 1500mm
Helen Sparkman
Patchwork quilt made of Suffolk Puffs mainly in cottons. It has a light green wholecloth backing.
2100 x 950mm
"�..quilt of silk hexagonal patches with a velvet panel as the centrepiece with petit point embroidery. The silk materials are a valuable source of textile history being very variable in weaves and patterns. The patchwork templates are still in situ and are of a ? linen gauze. The whole quilt is backed with mercerised cotton."
[Maggie Myers 21.5.1986]
2650 x 2330mm
This quilt has both sides made of pale blue satin. The quilting pattern comprises a large daisy pattern in the centre, set in a square of diamonds and with a fan in each corner. The border has 2 rows of diamond shapes and 2 parallel lines. The padding is raw cotton.
2070 x 1740mm

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