The Fabric of Society: Australia's Quilt Heritage from Colonial Times to 1960

Australia's history is retold through patchwork quilts in this exhibition drawn from national, state and private collections. The fabric scraps, patterns and needlework conjure memories of past times and allow an examination of the social histories of countless ordinary and some extraordinary people which would otherwise never have been told-Governor's wives, wealthy shop owners, farmer's wives, gold rush immigrants, prisoners of war, and all the mums that made their children's clothes and never threw anything away.

This exhibition includes rare and unique quilts displayed with contextual photographs and period furniture and has been curated exclusively for the Ipswich Art Gallery by Australian Quilt Historian Dr Annette Gero.

Cost: Entry by gold coin donation

 

Sponsored by our media partners: Adshel  |  Clegg Media  |  The Queensland Times.

Exhibition Dates: 
Saturday, 3 April 2010 - Sunday, 25 July 2010

Roebuck Quilt detail

Roebuck chintz quilt (detail) c.1860
Henrietta Maria, Margaret & Lizzie Roebuck
Chintz printed cotton, hand-pieced and appliquéd, unlined, 240 x 240cm. Private collection