Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them (20 page)

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THE WILD ROSE

That loves to grow in fragrant, tangled masses by the roadside was made to march in prim rows on this child’s quilt

American women rarely think of quilts as being made or used outside of their own country. In reality quilts are made in almost every land on the
face of the earth. Years ago, when the first New England missionaries were sent to the Hawaiian Islands, the native women were taught to piece quilts, which they continue to do down to this day. These Hawaiian women treasure their handiwork greatly, and some very old and beautiful quilts are to be found among these islands. In creating their patchwork they have wandered from the Puritanical designs of their teachers, and have intermingled with the conventional figures the gorgeous flowers that bloom beside their leaf-thatched, vine-covered huts. To these women, also, patchwork fills a place. It affords a means of expression for individuality and originality in the same way that it does for the lonely New England women and for the isolated mountaineers of Kentucky.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, immortalized by “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” produced other stories, not now so familiar to us as to our countrymen of the Civil War period, which showed an intimate knowledge of the home life of the American people as well as the vital questions of her day. In her novel entitled the “Minister’s Wooing,” which ran first as a serial in the
Atlantic Monthly
in 1859, she
describes a quilting supposed to have been given about the year 1800. Here we can view at close range a real old-fashioned quilting, and gain some insight into its various incidents of sociability and gossip, typical of an early New England seafaring village, as set forth in Mrs. Stowe’s inimitable style:

“By two o’clock a goodly company began to assemble. Mrs. Deacon Twitchel arrived, soft, pillowy, and plaintive as ever, accompanied by Cerinthy Ann, a comely damsel, tall and trim, with a bright black eye and a most vigorous and determined style of movement. Good Mrs. Jones, broad, expansive, and solid, having vegetated tranquilly on in the cabbage garden of the virtues since three years ago, when she graced our tea party, was now as well preserved as ever, and brought some fresh butter, a tin pail of cream, and a loaf of cake made after a new Philadelphia receipt. The tall, spare, angular figure of Mrs. Simeon Brown alone was wanting; but she patronized Mrs. Scudder no more, and tossed her head with a becoming pride when her name was mentioned.

“The quilt pattern was gloriously drawn in oak leaves, done in indigo; and soon all the company,
young and old, were passing busy fingers over it, and conversation went on briskly.

“Madame de Frontignac, we must not forget to say, had entered with hearty abandon into the spirit of the day. She had dressed the tall china vases on the mantelpiece, and, departing from the usual rule of an equal mixture of roses and asparagus bushes, had constructed two quaint and graceful bouquets where garden flowers were mingled with drooping grasses and trailing wild vines, forming a graceful combination which excited the surprise of all who saw it.

“‘It’s the very first time in my life that I ever saw grass put into a flower pot,’ said Miss Prissy, ‘but I must say it looks as handsome as a picture. Mary, I must say,’ she added, in an aside, ‘I think that Madame de Frontignac is the sweetest dressing and appearing creature I ever saw; she don’t dress up nor put on airs, but she seems to see in a minute how things ought to go; and if it’s only a bit of grass, or leaf, or wild vine, that she puts in her hair, why, it seems to come just right. I should like to make her a dress, for I know she would understand my fit; do speak to her, Mary, in case she should want a dress fitted here, to let me try it.’

“At the quilting Madame de Frontignac would have her seat, and soon won the respect of the party by the dexterity with which she used her needle; though, when it was whispered that she learned to quilt among the nuns, some of the elderly ladies exhibited a slight uneasiness, as being rather doubtful whether they might not be encouraging papistical opinions by allowing her an equal share in the work of getting up their minister’s bed quilt; but the younger part of the company was quite captivated by her foreign air and the pretty manner in which she lisped her English; and Cerinthy Ann even went so far as to horrify her mother by saying that she wished she’d been educated in a convent herself, a declaration which arose less from native depravity than from a certain vigorous disposition, which often shows itself in young people, to shock the current opinions of their elders and betters. Of course, the conversation took a general turn, somewhat in unison with the spirit of the occasion; and whenever it flagged, some allusion to a forthcoming wedding, or some sly hint at the future young Madame of the parish was sufficient to awaken the dormant animation of the company.

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MORNING GLORY

It must be “early to bed and early to rise” for the child who would see the sweet morning glory in all its loveliness, as it must be found before all the dew is gone

“Cerinthy Ann contrived to produce an agreeable electric shock by declaring that for her part she never could see into it how any girl could marry a minister; that she should as soon think of setting up housekeeping in a meeting-house.

“‘Oh, Cerinthy Ann!’ exclaimed her mother, ‘how can you go on so?’

“‘It’s a fact,’ said the adventurous damsel; ‘now other men let you have some peace, but a minister’s always round under your feet.’

“‘So you think the less you see of a husband, the better?’ said one of the ladies.

“‘Just my views!’ said Cerinthy, giving a decided snip to her thread with her scissors. ‘I like the Nantucketers, that go off on four years’ voyages, and leave their wives a clear field. If ever I get married, I’m going up to have one of those fellows.’

“It is to be remarked, in passing, that Miss Cerinthy Ann was at this very time receiving surreptitious visits from a consumptive-looking, conscientious young theological candidate, who came occasionally to preach in the vicinity, and put up at the house of the deacon, her father. This good young man, being violently attacked on the
doctrine of election by Miss Cerinthy, had been drawn on to illustrate it in a most practical manner, to her comprehension; and it was the consciousness of the weak and tottering state of the internal garrison that added vigour to the young lady’s tones. As Mary had been the chosen confidante of the progress of this affair, she was quietly amused at the demonstration.

“‘You’d better take care, Cerinthy Ann,’ said her mother, ‘they say “that those who sing before breakfast will cry before supper.” Girls talk about getting married,’ she said, relapsing into a gentle melancholy, ‘without realizing its awful responsibilities.’

“‘Oh, as to that,’ said Cerinthy, ‘I’ve been practising on my pudding now these six years, and I shouldn’t be afraid to throw one up chimney with any girl.’

“This speech was founded on a tradition, current in those times, that no young lady was fit to be married till she could construct a boiled Indian pudding of such consistency that it could be thrown up a chimney and come down on the ground outside without breaking; and the consequence of Cerinthy Ann’s sally was a general laugh.

“‘Girls ain’t what they used to be in my day,’ sententiously remarked an elderly lady. ‘I remember my mother told me when she was thirteen she could knit a long cotton stocking in a day.’

“‘I haven’t much faith in these stories of old times, have you, girls?’ said Cerinthy, appealing to the younger members at the frame.

“‘At any rate,’ said Mrs. Twitchel, ‘our minister’s wife will be a pattern; I don’t know anybody that goes beyond her either in spinning or fine stitching.’

“Mary sat as placid and disengaged as the new moon, and listened to the chatter of old and young with the easy quietness of a young heart that has early outlived life and looks on everything in the world from some gentle, restful eminence far on toward a better home. She smiled at everybody’s word, had a quick eye for everybody’s wants, and was ready with thimble, scissors, or thread, whenever any one needed them; but once, when there was a pause in the conversation, she and Mrs. Marvyn were both discovered to have stolen away. They were seated on the bed in Mary’s little room, with their arms around each other, communing in low and gentle tones.

“‘Mary, my dear child,’ said her friend, ‘this event is very pleasant to me, because it places you permanently near me. I did not know but eventually this sweet face might lead to my losing you who are in some respects the dearest friend I have.’

“‘You might be sure,’ said Mary, ‘I never would have married, except that my mother’s happiness and the happiness of so good a friend seemed to depend on it. When we renounce self in anything we have reason to hope for God’s blessing; and so I feel assured of a peaceful life in the course I have taken. You will always be as a mother to me,’ she added, laying her head on her friend’s shoulder.

“‘Yes,’ said Mrs. Marvyn; ‘and I must not let myself think a moment how dear it might have been to have you more my own. If you feel really, truly happy, if you can enter on this life without any misgivings——’

“‘I can,’ said Mary firmly.

“At this instant, very strangely, the string which confined a wreath of seashells around her glass, having been long undermined by moths, suddenly broke and fell down, scattering the shells upon the floor.

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“KEEPSAKE QUILT”

The sunbonnet lassies suggest an outing or a call from playmates on the morrow. These lassies may be dressed in bits of the gowns of the little maid, and the quilt thus become a “keepsake quilt”

“Both women started, for the string of shells had been placed there by James; and though neither was superstitious, this was one of those odd coincidences that make hearts throb.

“‘Dear boy!’ said Mary, gathering the shells up tenderly; ‘wherever he is, I shall never cease to love him. It makes me feel sad to see this come down; but it is only an accident; nothing of him will ever fall out of my heart.’

“Mrs. Marvyn clasped Mary closer to her, with tears in her eyes.

“‘I’ll tell you what, Mary, it must have been the moths did that,’ said Miss Prissy, who had been standing, unobserved, at the door for a moment back; ‘moths will eat away strings just so. Last week Miss Vernon’s great family picture fell down because the moths eat through the cord; people ought to use twine or cotton string always. But I came to tell you that supper is all set, and the doctor out of his study, and all the people are wondering where you are.’

“Mary and Mrs. Marvyn gave a hasty glance at themselves in the glass, to be assured of their good keeping, and went into the great kitchen, where a long table stood exhibiting all that plentitude of
provision which the immortal description of Washington Irving has saved us the trouble of recapitulating in detail.

“The husbands, brothers, and lovers had come in, and the scene was redolent of gayety. When Mary made her appearance, there was a moment’s pause, till she was conducted to the side of the doctor; when, raising his hand, he invoked a grace upon the loaded board.