Wagga Rug

Wagga rug from Australia. Wagga rug from Australia.

Wagga rugs are Australian coverings made from four or five flour sacks or chaff bags, sewn together with a bag needle and twine. Modern wagga rugs are considered to be a form of patchwork rather than quilts. They were originally made by men working in the Australian outback to keep out the cold.

The name originated in the late nineteenth century from the town of Wagga Wagga, in a wheat growing area of New South Wales. Poor women made wagga rugs for bed coverings with sacks or old sheets as backing, worn clothing and blankets as filling, and printed cotton cretonne or calico as top layer. The Australian writer (and quiltmaker), Margaret Rolfe, mentions their use during the 1930's Depression in Australia.

Also known as: Murrumbidgee blanket; wogger

Source: ROLFE, Margaret (1987). Patchwork Quilts in Australia, Victoria: Greenhouse Publications.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 8th July 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 14 May 2017 19:05
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