Cowpastures Bicentenial Quilt

Completed for the 1995 celebration of the settlement of the Cowpastures district in 1795.

The quilt was made by the members of the Camden Country Quilters and features designs that represent features of the local area.

The top left corner symbolically features aboriginal art work to acknowledge the aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of the land for the thousands of years before European settlement.

Below this is an image of a miner with a pick in hand chipping away at rock. This area is located on a very rich coal seam, and mining provided a lot of employment and wealth for the region up until recently when the minds were closed down.

The local native animals common to the area are also displayed. These include a kangaroo, kookaburra, possum, koala, blue wren, rosella, galah, cockatoo and wombat.

The remainder of the quilt pays homage to the districts colonial beginnings with images representing the old stone arch railway bridge of Picton, the old settlements and farms houses, John Macarthur's residency, sheep farming and vineyards. Camden's St John's Church stands proudly in the top right corner.

The centre image represents hot air ballooning which is a common attraction around Camden on a Saturday morning and the original cottage built looking over where the cow grazes. The area is known as the Cowpastures because this is the area that the run away cows of the first fleet were found grazing.

Finally, the symbol of a bull's head sits in the centre of the quilts bottom edge. It watches on as more people come and make the Cowpastures their home, just as it did back in 1795.