The Fabric of Society
Australia’s Quilt Heritage from Convict Times to 1960

by Annette Gero
with patterns by Kim McLean

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: The Beagle Press, Sydney
Language: English
ISBN: 9780947349554

“Marion was busy finishing a patchwork table cover of  silks, the pieces cut in diamond shapes of different shades. The effect is very good. She kindly gave me the patterns and we at once looked out all our pieces of silk and began to make one for our aunt.”

Annabella Boswell, Port Macquarie, 1844
Morton Herman, Annabella Boswell’s Journal
taken from The Fabric of Society

Annette Gero describes her book as, “a book which not only reflects the heritage quilts found in Australia but also the social history of countless ordinary people and some quite extraordinary people who are from our past”.

Annette is a quilt historian who began documenting and collecting quilts in 1982. She currently owns one of the world’s great quilt collections. The Gero Collection is famous for several reasons. Firstly, the research and information spent and recorded on each quilt is outstanding. Also the age and quality of the quilts, numbered in their thousands, makes the collection unlike anything else in Australia, and the several of the quilts are some of the finest known globally.

In 1986 Dr Gero was awarded a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts (London) in recognition of her work on Australian Quilt History.

Despite all these formidable sounding accolades, Annette is a wonderfully approachable person with a clear and infectious passion for quilts and their history.

The thread that runs through this comprehensive history of patchwork in our country is the stories behind the quilts, of the patterns themselves and of the women, and the men, who made them. In many cases a personal history of the quiltmaker is known and personal stories has been obtained from the families associated with the quilts or from the current owners.

The history begins with the convicts, and with what is perhaps the best known historical Australian quilt, known as the Rajah Quilt, circa 1841. This quilt was made on a convict ship during the voyage from England, and is the only known quilt made by women on these journeys to have survived. It is currently in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

This fascinating story only the start of the pages of beautiful quilts, interesting stories and background history of Australia, which moves from the convicts through the early settlers, governor’s wives, the gold rush, World War I diggers, the Depression, World War II POW’s,  and on into the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.

Here are some examples of the quilts in the book.

The book contains over 450 colour plates of quilts and also of the women who made them and their environment. It comes with a CD Rom of pattern instructions and seperate pattern sheets for 29 of the quilts in the book, including Kim McLean’s remarkable interpretation of the Roebuck quilt, for which she won the Founder’s Award at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

This is the story of the Roebuck Quilt and it’s “twin”.
One of the most sought after patterns for reproducing an old Australian quilt is the one of the quilt made by the Roebuck sisters. A cotton and chintz quilt of diamonds and hexagons, made on the voyage to Australia, around 1860. Kim Mclean has reproduced the pattern for this quilt and her own version of the Roebuck quilt won the Founder’s Award prize at the International Quilt Show in Houston! (This pattern is in the book). However, more recently the family found a second quilt with a very similar pattern to the first Roebuck quilt but with completely different fabrics. No one knew of the existence of this quilt as it was handed down through another side of the family. Last year, the two quilts came together and they are featured side by side in the book to compare the patterns and also the fabrics. Roebuck quilt 1 is on the cover of the book and Roebuck quilt 2 is below.

The history of the two quilts starts with Major George Douglas Roebuck, who was in the 71st East India Company Native Infantry Bengal and in 1818 was posted to Northern India. Major Roebuck married Henrietta Andrew, who was only 16 at the time, in Edinburgh in 1830 when he was home on leave and they returned to India together.
Major Roebuck and Henrietta Andrew had 14 children of which only four survived. These were Henrietta Maria, George Douglas, Margaret (Maggie) and Eliza (Lizzie) all of whom were born in India.

Maggie Roebuck

However, when Major Roebuck died in India in 1846, his wife and four children returned to Scotland and in 1860/61 decided to sail to Australia and settle in Queensland. It is thought that the two quilts were made on the long sea voyage to Australia and that the quilts were stitched by the three Roebuck daughters, Henrietta Maria, Maggie and Lizzie.

The striking thing about the quilts is the unusual designs, striking and brilliant colours and the techniques of appliqué.



You can read a great interview with Dr Annette Gero from Down Under Quilts by clicking this link.
The Fabric of Society is available from:
Annette Gero’s Website: www.annettegero.com
Or ask your local quilt shop to contact Annette for stockist details

To read about Dr Annette Gero judging the Hunter’s Hill Quilter’s recent wagga competition and see the quilts, you can go to our Sewing Stories page.
 
You can read an interview with Kim McLean at The Alliance for American Quilts website
Kim’s latest pattern is in Kaffe Fassett’s new book, Quilt Romance. The book and other patterns by Kim are available at Glorious Color