Traditional Australian

Original little quilts in authentic vintage and antique fabrics 1835-1945

Traditional Australian Emigrant Quilts

The quilts pictured below, from Australia's fabulous National Quilt Register site, were made by Australia's first British settlers and their descendants and by later immigrants from Europe. Considered "typical" or "traditional" in style, they are notable for the makers' inventive use of old clothing - from sweaters to overalls - and for their spontaneity of design and graphic impact. Compare them to the "plain" quilts traditionally made by the descendants of Scots and Irish settlers in the Ozarks and Appalachian mountains of the US and blacks and whites in the rural Deep South.

5Made by Mary Jane Hannaford, New South Wales, c.1910. She emigrated from England in 1842.

5Made by Caroline Mary West, New South Wales, c.1920-40. Tailor samples.

5Made by Lucy Elizabeth Williams, Victoria, before 1920. Fabric samples (mostly shirting) from her family's general store.

3Made by Anna Bishop, Queensland, c.1910. Old clothing sandwiched between layers of unbleached muslin and machine-quilted in place.

5Made by Selina Pavey Martens, South Australia, c.1920. Wool suiting samples acquired from a friend who had a tailor shop; wool blanket batting.

5Made by Emily Forward, Sydney, c.1935-40.

3Made c.1914 by the mother of the little girl at lower right in the photo below. Old Army blankets with burlap sacks as backing.

Made by Zumma Carraro, Sydney, c.1935. 5

She emigrated from Italy in 1926.

54Made by Bessie Gray, Sydney, c.1940. Her grandparents emigrated from England c.1835.

5Made by Tillie Budich, daughter of Johann Gottlieb Heinrich and Bertha Christiane Nickolai (nee Kaesler), NW Victoria, c.1940. Detail of stitching

5Made by Mary McGregor, Victoria, before 1951. She emigrated from Scotland in 1914.