History
The quilt was made by Miss Mildred Millington and went with her on numerous army postings from 1947-1956. It is now owned by her neice Charlotte Nattey. "I remember my aunt working on this when she came to visit us! And I also remember thinking about the amount of effort and I didn't much like the colours. To tell you of the quilt is to tell you of the person. My aunt joined the ATS in 1938. She felt war was inevitable and wanted to do something practical. She became an officer in charge of an 'Ack Ack' battery that fired the first shots in the defence of London. In 1944 she was one of a very small detachment of women (all part of the 'Ack Ack') who were stationed in Belgium with the aim of shooting down V1 and V2 bombers. I believe these were the only women on active duty for the allies in Europe. After the war ended she remained in the army, now the WRAC, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1956. She then held a position with the army benevolent fund.
This quilt went with her to 'keep her busy' on many postings. It is very neatly stitched and I still find the colour combinations 'heavy'!
Finally I should tell you that although right handed she had an accident when she was about 10 and had to always use her left hand. She also had poor eyesight due to childhood cataracts so the fact that she always knitted and did tapestries and quilts was quite remarkable."
[Charlotte Nattey 6 April 1997]
Description
Quilt made entirely of hexagon pieces, some forming diamonds and some rosettes. It is bordered with red and beige fringing. There is no padding and it is backed with silk shantung. "I think it is from scraps from between the two world wars but some may have been bought. They are the 'art silk' pieces. Most of it is in various silks and satins and there are some small pieces of linen." [Charlotte Nattey]
