Making the Australian Quilt

This week a friend and I visited the NGV exhibition, Making the Australian Quilt, 1800-1950.
I am very happy that we got to this exhibition. I tend to leave ones that are on for a long time till the last minute and then have to rush. But we have been and seen it in plenty of time.

There were some amazing quilts there. Some were sent back to England, some were sent to the person for whom they were made. It is amazing that descendants have kept them and then been able to see the value and donate them to relevant museums.

It was also very liberating to see some that have been treasured over generations and realise that perfection in making the quilt is not essential. Quite a few were obviously made for practical reasons and the makers didn't stress over exact measurements, etc. They were wonderful to see.

This was an appliqué cut from fabric. 

An amazing hexagonal quilt, made of tiny hexagons.

Some of the quilts were worn away, showing the back fabric, with no batting in between. 

Log cabin, using some rather gorgeous silks. 

This was shown as a bag! Gorgeous. 

Wagga, using all sorts of fabrics. Very utilitarian,

I have 'almost' been inspired to get out some unfinished quilts and see about actually getting them done. There were some examples of unfinished quilts, not finished for various reasons. But it was great to see that they had still been treasured by the families.