Folklore - Robyn - 'Ned Kelly"

Even without a title Aussies would know immediately what my Folklore quilt is about. To many Ned Kelly is a folk legend, to others he was, and will always be, a common criminal. Since childhood I have been fascinated by Ned Kelly the folk legend.

Edward (Ned) Kelly was born in a slab hut in 25 miles north of Melbourne in December 1854, the third of eight children to John and Ellen Kelly. John (Red) Kelly was transported from Ireland to Australia in 1841, his crime being the theft of 2 pigs valued at 6 pounds.

Life was hard for the family and became worse after John died (1866) when Ned was just 12 years old. In 1869 Ned is sentenced to 7 weeks gaol for assaulting a Chinese pig farmer. In 1870 he is gaoled for 3 years for assault and being in possession of a stolen horse. In 1878 he is alleged to have shot Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick when he came to the Kelly home to arrest Ned's younger brother Dan. Ned, Dan and their friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart (The Kelly Gang) go into hiding. Soon after they ambush and kill 3 policemen. A month later they commit a series of bank robberies in small country towns. It is during this time that Ned writes a 40+ page letter telling his side of the story and telling of the ill treatment and false accusations suffered by his family at the hands of the (sometimes corrupted) police. This became known as the Jerilderie  Letter.

In 1879 the gang made their "suits of armour" from mouldboards - the metal plate of a farmers plough. 

June 1880 the gang, wearing their suits of armour engage in a final shootout with the police at Glenrowan.  Dan, Joe and Steve are fatally shot and Ned is seriously injured with gunshots to his legs.

11November 1880 Ned Kelly is hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol and buried in a mass grave. His remains were among others transferred to Pentridge Prison in 1929. His remains were exhumed in 2009. In 2013 Ned's remains were laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Greta Cemetery the resting place  of many other Kelly family members.

http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/ned-kelly-jerilderie/

I made the individual components of the quilt separately before stitching them to the background which I had quilted following the stripes of the fabric. Ned's head was traced onto some press and seal and then placed onto cream fabric and thin wadding. It was free motion stitched from the back. The front was sprayed to give it a sepia like appearance.  "Wanted" is simply stamped with black on white. The head part of Ned's armour was made from a coke can with black fabric behind the eye slit.  I bashed it with a hammer on rough cement to give it a beaten appearance, and coloured it slightly with inks. The pigs represent those that John (Red) Kelly stole in Ireland and caused him to be transported for his crime, the red for his red hair and nickname. The quilt is finished with a facing.

Maybe my Ned Kelly fascination has something to do with the fact that I have an Irish Kelly in my family history. I'll have to investigate further.