Quilts

The Queensland Women's Historical Assoc.
Wool patches in large Tumbling Block pattern. Plain colours, blues, orange, gree, red. Seams are over embroidered with silk thread in herringbone stitch. Backing is 'Molleton', red with yellow pansy design.
2490 x 2236mm
Diana Cameron
Square quilt top. Floral centre piece with borders of squares set in a diamond pattern. Squares are in plain colours and patterns. There is no padding or backing.
920 x 920mm
Anne Gardener
Quilt made from woollen dressmaking scraps, sewn to an army demob issue blanket, grey with blue stripes. Patches are feather stitched in red broder cotton thread. Quilt is edged with red cotton material zig zagged into place. Colours are pink, blue, brown, black and grey, in plain cloth, weaves and checks.
1462 x 966mm
Virginia Solomon
Log Cabin quilt featuring centre square and 3 outer borders. Evidence of later repairs and additions by machine and hand sewing. There is white paint on it. The log cabin pieces are sewn on to black netting. There is no padding and the backing is a centre piece of gold damask/sateen and green and black sateen borders.
1728 x 1321mm
Billie Briggs
Hand pieced hexagon quilt in pattern known as 'Grandmother's Flower Garden". 12 hexagons, in patterned cottons, form the outer border of each flower with an inner border of 6 matching plain coloured hexagons and all flowers have a yellow hexagon centre. There is no padding, a cotton backing and it is hand quilted.
2400 x 1780mm.
Thelma Lithgow
Repeat block quilt top based on hexagons, each 350 mm diameter. Six hexagons and a centre one make a 'flower' and these are set in rows against a plain calico background. Patterned cotton fabrics are used for the hexagons, small prints, fine stripes and tiny flowers. As it is a quilt top only, there is no lining or padding. 2100 x 1800 mm
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
Christine Kable
Durham type wholecloth quilt of cotton sateen, hand sewn and quilted. Apricot on one side and yellow on the other. The padding is possibly coarse cotton.
2465 x 2057mm
Lora Busellato
Machine pieced cotton quilt, in random design of geometric pieces. Materials used are cotton sheeting, dress fabrics, broderie anglaise, and seersucker. There is no padding, and backing is white curtain lining.
1540 x 1150 mm.
June Brown
This quilt has been strip pieced with no regular pattern. It seems a large quilt has been made then folded in half. The materials used are woollen skirting pieces in a variety of colours. It could be used either way. There is no padding and it is very heavy.
2100 x 1950mm
Barbara McCabe
Patchwork quilt made of squares and rectangles in woollen fabric, stitched together without any particular pattern. Colours are mainly green, grey, blue, black, pink and some yellow. Fabrics are plain, checks and stripes. No padding, quilting or binding. Backing is a remnant of synthetic fabric. The quilt has been well sued and is very worn with fabric torn and marked in some places.
1400 x 400mm
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
Glenda Wilkinson
Quilt consisting of 30 blocks 360 x 360mm each (5 x 6). Each block consists of squares and rectangles arranged diagonally and edged with triangles. Each block is made from 2 or 3 different cotton materials, different colours but mainly pastels. It has not been quilted but tied with pink wool with 5 ties per block. Machine sewn with a folded and machine stitched edge. Padding appears to be coarse open weave cotton. The backing is printed flannelette.
2210 x 1850mm
The Pioneer Women's Hut
Double sided patchwork quilt. Machined squares and rectangles joined in strips and then the strips joined. Wide variety of materials, mainly woollen from hand or machine knitted jumpers, many patched. All materials came from worn garments from family and friends of the maker. No padding.
1860 x 1410mm
Kereake Wray
Wholecloth Greek quilt. "The fabric is a beautiful silk satin with a formal pattern of soft yellows and pinks on a turquoise background. Surrounding this is a 40cm wide border also of silk satin (cerise coloured). The quilt is machine pieced but hand quilted. The method of quilting is very interesting. A thick cream twist has been used and at first glance it seems that the quilt is tied as there are long pairs of stitches with gaps of about 4cm between them. However, either a long needle was used to make a pair of stitches OR each side may have been quilted separately with the needle only going half way into the wadding which is about 2 cms thick." [Kereake Wray] The padding is kapok approx 2 cm thick and the backing is deep coral pink satin. 2200 x 1960 mm.
The Pioneer Women's Hut
The top is machine pieced patches of used clothing. The backing is large pieces of dress materials and either end patches similar to the top. The padding is a chaff bag or similar with patches of worn, matted children's jumpers sewn directly on to it.
1400 x 1150mm
Fran Williams
150 x 210mm pieces of bound suiting samples overlapped and machined together then herringboned with gold/yellow thread. Each piece has an embroidered motif, using single thread, mainly non Australian birds and animals. '1903' is embroidered on a centre piece. It is hand quilted. The backing is a black floral print. There is no padding.
1800 x 1940mm
Lyn Cottingham
Single bed quilt hand pieced from silk hexagons using the English method. The border, backing and central rosette of hexagons are black. All other hexagons are a mixture of plain colours, stripes and florals. They are randomly placed. It is quilted in a diamond pattern. The padding is a thin cotton woven material.
1550 x 1330mm
Cressida Mary Webb Challis
Quilt of machine pieced squares and rectangles using a wide variety of materials in plain colours and patterns. It is one of a pair. There is no padding and the backing is 90cm strips of calico.
2500 x 2130mm
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

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