Greek Quilt

History

The name of the maker is unknown but the quilt was made on the island of Rhodes, Greece, in the mid 1940s. Mrs Katerino Marino purchased the quilt in 1948 and brought it to Australia in 1952. She donated it to the West Australian Quilters' Association Inc. in 1997. "It has been, and still is in 2000, a tradition in Greece that parents should provide a quilt for the marriage of each of their daughters. In Australia, this tradition has changed to Greek parents giving a bedroom suite and bed linen to daughters getting married. The quilts were made in varying thicknesses depending on the degree of warmth required. Sometimes the thicker quilts would be put on the floor as mattresses as many people did not have beds or perhaps they would be used as extra bedding for guests. Some of the quilts were quite large and could be used for up to six people as occasions arose when whole families would sleep together." [Joy Hill WAQA]

Description

Hand sewn cotton Greek whole cloth quilt. One side is deep blue and one side is bright yellow. The 32cm border is quilted in straight lines approximately 4cm apart except for a wide zigzag pattern half way inside the border. The centre section has four large semi circles and is quilted like the sun's rays towards a central diamond about 45cms tall. The padding is hand scoured wool.
2020 x 1860mm