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Christmas
at The Johnston Collection
Fine and Decorative Arts Museum
in East Melbourne
The collection is the legacy of William Robert Johnston, antique dealer and collector of beautiful things
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Whatever happened to … ‘I Saw Three Ships Go Sailing By’ ??? Update: June 2011 Our quilt was on Mr Johnston’s bed for 4 months as part of the decorative display for Christmas 2009 - see below
It went on
to be hung in the National Wool Museum, Geelong, for 3 months in the
exhibition
In July it
went to Jeff’s Shed, into Showcase 2010, Victoria’s premier annual judged
Quilt Show. We knew we’d created a splendid piece of work, but it was nice
to have that opinion endorsed by independent judges The Quilt has been donated to the Geelong Hospital to raise funds for the new Children's Ward
Before it
goes off into private ownership, we hope to have it on display at our
Exhibition in November |
Our Guild was invited to join with other groups from the Geelong area
to create the decoration of the House for Christmas 2009, with the title:
'We Three Kings of Orient Are'
Committee: Pat Norton, Magda Moore, Judy Alcock
Other
Groups involved:
Embroiderers' Guild Of Victoria (Geelong Branch)
Geelong & District Porcelain Painters, Trolly Dolly Cloth Doll Club, Geelong CWA
Geelong Textile & Associated Artists, Leopold Lacemakers, The Third Wednesday
Group
We were
fortunate that many of the
magnificent items that were displayed in the Johnston House for Christmas 2009
went on to
The Wool Museum, Geelong
and were on display 29 May to 29 August 2010.
This beautifully curated
exhibition offered another opportunity to see all the
beautiful work.
And we could take as much time as we liked in this museum
environment!
The Items Made by our Members
We decorated the 3 rooms that form the upstairs Retiring Area: the bedroom, small sitting room and bathroom
The ‘Story’ for our three rooms:
Our era is the 1950s. It has been a busy day with social engagements and the
last arrangements before Christmas.
As part of his relaxation and reflection time before retiring, Mr Johnston has
been doing a few rows of his current knitting project, a sock.
He is about to run a bath and he has popped a couple of Cook’s irresistible
mince tarts on the bedside table for a last nibble as he slips into bed.
It
is a requirement that each decorative piece should connect with the decoration, or the line or form of
furniture or an object in the collection
OR it should relate to an aspect of Mr Johnston's life
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Theme:
Sea & Maritime Interests, Travel - Mr Johnston travelled to Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and India as well as
the UK. Geelong is ‘the City by the Bay’ so there are many references to the sea. Colour Scheme: Blue is the linking colour between the 3 rooms. As a Patchwork & Quilters’
Guild, our major project was the Quilt for Mr Johnston’s bed |
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The emphasis for all our items in the 3 rooms is on fabric, on patchwork, on quilting, and then on other embellishing techniques including:
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The
Quilt is
medallion style with appliqué
Man o' War ships in
an on-point centre, Mariners’ compasses around the medallion.
‘Storm at Sea’ blocks, a traditional pattern, make up the wide outer border. Click here to see the Label from the back of the quilt which details the makers and shows the painting which inspired the quilt.
The Quilt is for sale
at $3,300 Note: This splendid quilt was Runner Up in the Group Quilts category at the Victorian Quilters Inc 'Showcase' held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (Jeff's Shed) 22 - 25 July 2010 |
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Patricia Norton Sitting room Reference: Pair of Candelabra with Mythical Sea Monsters. Materials: Cotton fabric, appliqué with gold printed cotton, embellishment with beads and fine gold cord. Machine quilting with Trapunto work (stuffing to give a raised effect to the appliqué)
A quilted piece which
showcases the skill of one of our Guild’s Master Quilters. |
Table Centrepiece Magda Moore 75cm x 75cm Sitting room Reference: Imari plate (Worcester). Materials: Cotton damask from an old table cloth, old cotton lace. An old Liberty cotton was used for the pale floral segments of the plate. The plate pattern is adapted from a traditional patchwork pattern called Dresden Plate. The plate is machine appliquéd to the damask using gold metallic thread. |
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Patricia Norton 47cm triangular base x 75cm H Sitting room Reference: The white porcelain Quan Yin, the female version of Buddha.
Materials:
white organza and silk on a wire frame.
The Ionic Scrolls on the
base are a link to the foam on the stormy sea in the painting. |
Cupcakes Brenda Buchanan real cup cake size Sitting Room – plate stand of cupcakes Bedroom – plate of mince tarts on the table beside the bed Reference: Food to suit the season Brenda wrote: While baking the mince pies, Cook decided not to use the usual lattice strips on top of the pies. Instead, knowing ‘Master’ was a seafaring man, she decided to use a Reef Knot. Similarly she decorated the blue cupcake with a silver cachous star, another nautical aid as well as being significant at Christmas. Cook was also hoping that the mixed berries on a couple of the other cakes would remind him of ‘home’ (England) as he settled back here in this ‘new’ country.
Materials:
silk, satin and cotton fabrics, embellished with ribbons, beads and
embroidery to achieve the look of yummy little cakes. White cotton was
moulded over a silicon patty pan to achieve the appearance of the paper
patty pans in use in the 1950s. |
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Christmas Tree 26 x 24cm base x 47cm H Sitting Room Reference: green for the leather on the desk. The classical Victorian swirl design in the fabric is typical of designs found in furniture of the era. Materials: gold printed green cotton fabric, gold cord, silk ribbon and beads. Mounted on cardboard |
Patricia Norton 12cm triangular base x 27cm H Sitting Room
Reference:
the red chair at the desk. Materials: red velvet, gold printed cotton fabric, gold cords and beads.
Mounted on cardboard |
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Christmas Tree Patricia Norton 18cm diameter base x 25cm H Sitting room Reference: Gold cushion Materials: Gold printed gold cotton fabric, gold braid, gold cord, beads. This style of tree gives an impression of sails. The cord and the gold base link to materials used in the Quilt. Mounted on cardboard
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Gillian O’Brien 12cm square base x 35cm H Bedroom Reference: the sea in the painting– the hand painted silk gives the impression of waves Materials: the blue hand painted silk is machine quilted with a meandering pattern that suggests the waves and swirls of the sea. Gold cord, silk ribbon and beads.
Mounted on cardboard |
Toiletries Bag Ethel Gibb
$25 Bathroom Placed on a side table in the basin area as you enter the bathroom Reference: Paisley fabric for WRJ’s Scottish heritage (The paisley pattern has formed an ornate W) Materials: Gold cotton sateen fabric, cotton paisley fabric, gold cord and tassels. |
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The inspiration for the for the Bathroom is the blue flowers as seen on the circa 1910 toilet pan! The flowers for the bathroom items were painted on cotton fabric by Patricia Norton, using McCall’s ‘Morning Glory’ embroidery patterns of 1912 |
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Patricia Norton 175cm W x 180cm H - flat Hand painted flowers simply glued onto the white nylon shower curtain. |
Lorraine Matthews 82cm x 91cm -
flat Machine appliqué. |
Aike Eyck 38cm x 60cm - flat Hand appliqué. |
Patricia Norton 75cm x 126cm - flat Machine appliqué.
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50cm high x 34cm across toe Bedroom Reference: Use of Japanese fabric, a link to Mr Johnston’s travels. In the Quilt photo above, the stockings are hanging at the head of the bed, so Mr Johnston can slip his hand into them for small treats when he wakes on Christmas morning.
Materials: Silk
and cotton fabrics. Padded and quilted, embellished with braid, tassles and
beads. |
44cm high x 34cm across toe Bedroom – hanging on a high chest of drawers
Reference: Sea
blues and greens.
Materials: Silk
and velvet, padded and quilted, embellished with braid and ribbon.
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34cm high x 24cm across toe Sitting room Reference: ‘Crazy Patchwork’, so popular in the Victorian era and reproduced to suit homes and furnishing from that era. Materials: Silk and satin, beads, gold cord and ribbon, tiny trinkets. Padded and quilted, with lots of embroidery embellishment to create lavish stockings to suit the beautiful Johnston House
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Sue Greig Maureen Mohr around 12 cm and 13 cm across Bedroom Reference: Hanging stars refer to Christmas and to sailors’ use of the stars for navigation. Materials: cotton fabric and beads, constructed on cardboard Note: The smaller the star, the more difficult it is to construct.
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Jan Saunders Patrica Norton Bedroom and sitting room
Reference: ‘We
Three Kings’ – the overall theme of the Exhibition Materials: Cotton fabric inserted into mounting card. Some embellishment with paint and beads |
Judy Alcock Bedroom Reference: Mr Johnston knitted , so this could be a ‘work in progress’ Materials: 4 ply wool on size 13 needles. The 1950s pre-decimal wool (these are one ounce balls!) was found in an Op Shop several years ago. |
The Quilt is to be donated to the Geelong Hospital to raise funds for the new Children's Ward
