Wholecloth functional quilt. Cretonne type material both sides. Centre is a blanket with sheeting or cotton fabric sewn to both sides ie. between the blanket and cretonne. It is machine stitched. There are gaps in one side through which the layers are visible. 1677 x 1423 mm

One side of this whole cloth quilt is a single piece of cretonne or similar with a pattern of autumn leaves. The other side is patched pieces of curtaining. The padding is old clothing, mainly knits, with some pieces of men’s suiting showing through tears in the backing, tacked to random pieces of curtain material.

The quilt is a simple design consisting of forty-eight 20 cm squares stitched together in rows of squares 6 x 8. The quilt is made of wool and a good variety of fabrics were available to the maker. The fabrics consist of a tartan, checks, plaids, plains, wool crepe, tweed and one block with a

The Wagga is double sided and has an inner layer. It is in excellent condition. The Wagga contains a great variety of woollen fabrics: including tweeds, khaki army uniform, herringbone, plaids, stripes and checks. It is machined stitched and has some machine stitching to hold the three layers together. There is no binding, indicating the

Emily and Charles Clarke were married in 1890 and had 10 children. They lived all their lives at ‘Arneville’ in the Yass district of NSW and the cross bred wool used in this quilt came from the property. Ivy, for whom the quilt was made, used it until about 1978 when it was too heavy

Mrs. Toose’s husband was a draper and tailor and provided the sample books from which the quilts were made. Mrs. Reynolds remarked “my husband would never hear of it (the rug) being thrown out or given to the Smith family”. She referred to it as a bush rug.

Edith Perrott, born Bartholomew, (1879 -1970) of Tumbarumba NSW made this child’s quilt for her grand-daughter Rosemary in 1945. She had previously made a larger quilt with a bag centre when her son Glen and Peggy were married in 1943.

“Miss Olive Budden, maker of this quilt, had access to offcuts from a coat factory. She made scores of quilts from these and took great pleasure in giving them to her friends and acquaintances. This was given to me for my children to use as a “car rug” in the days before cars were heated.”

Eileen (Helen) Alexander used a treadle sewing machine, still in the family, to make this and other quilts and all family clothing. Eileen is a competent knitter, embroiderer, mender etc and there are examples extant of her work.

” Money was tight. It was cold and I made up something to keep him (my son) warm. My husband (first) was a shearer and seasonal worker and it was just after the shearers’ strike. He (my husband) didn’t like work much. I first heard about and saw ‘Wagga’ quilts while I was staying with

This quilt was recoverd about 1920 to make it thicker but a lot of the material was eaten by mice and the rest turned to dust. The original quilt was then carefully washed and survived. Karolyn Eastwell (the previous owner) had 5 children before she was 20 and a total of 14 children.

Joyce Lacey remembers sleeping under the quilt was uncomfortable due to the weight of it. The quilt has been used for moving furniture and sent to Scout camp with Joyce’s son Graham when he was younger. “My mother Ivy’s mother was a very good sewer however she would not allow my mother to use the

No other information but owner writes “The concept of a Wagga blanket has been adopted by family members in recent years to recycle blankets.”

“Mary Annie Whitehead was born in Lincolnshire UK in 1868 and died in 1953, having married Edwin Simon Whitehead at Wabba Station, near Corryong in 1895. They had 5 children. Her second youngest child, Gladys Mary married Joseph Gibson, whose sisters Daphne, Olive, and Ruby made the waggas . The family

“The wool for this was brought out during the depression years, to help the wool industry and also to help keep people warm, as blankets were too dear to buy, think it would have been about 25 shillings, cheese cloth about 6 pence a yard. This would not have been its original cover, but it

Agnes made this quilt, and 2 others, for her son when he flatted with his mates. When the mates moved on they took 2 of the quilts with them. This one survived because it was so heavy. It was stored in the shed and only used by her son on camping trips.

Helga Johansen (1898-1986) was born in Trondheim, Norway and the family came to Australia when she was 2. Margaret Lyons comments 9.2.2001: “All my mother’s stitching, all her own work. You have to start with a main backing piece, mum used wool, an old thin blanket, I’d say. I believe you can use hessian. Then

” This Wagga was made for camping. We didn’t have a car and we caught the train to the north or south coast (NSW) or wherever the fishing was good.”

Mary McGregor was born and married in Scotland and came to Australia with her husband and 3 children on the ship ‘Geelong’ in 1914. Little is known of their early life in Australia but it is known they lived at ‘Glenara’ Bulla Vic where Mary’s husband was a gatekeeper and part time gardener. Mary died

Robert (1857-1935) and Margaret (1865-1950) Mays were married at Hartley NSW in 1884. Robert came to Australia from Norfolk (England) in 1879. Margaret was the daughter of Samuel Perry a convict transported to Australia in 1835. They were pioneers of the Rydal district near Lithgow NSW. Robert and Margaret had 12 children. Margaret (Maggie) (1897-1981)