Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-10-21
The Patchwork Quilt.

The Burlington HdUk.Ege has been TO
the Iowa State Fair and wandered into
the patchwork-quilt department, and this
is what it says:
There is the usual array at the State
Fair. The quilt containing S,501 1923
stitches, made by old Mrs. McCaycndish,
lady ninety. eight years old who reads
without glasses and eats with her knife
never had n days sickness in her life
never wore hustle nor tie back and
doesn't believe in sewing machines, is
there. And there il one thing 20 be said
about these quilts that are held together
by three or four million stitches. They
are always good, honest quilts, There is
no patchwork comforter about them.
None Of these things that seem Ia weigh
fifty pounds when you first crawl under it,
but let you wake up in the night, shiyer.
ing at the rate Of thirty.five miles AN hour,
frozen from your feet To your chin, to
find, ON investigation, twenty-five pounds
Of cotton in each end Of that comforter
and nothing in the middle, while the old
thing rides you for all the world like "A
pair Of great saddle. bags. And you can
fight and tear and punch at that cotton
all the rest of the night, but YOU can't get
IL NilIfh'l phA hEaiAts AH't tAtf5N oih
quilts are never made scant, like those
hospitable delusions you find in the spare
bed when you go out 10 visit your dear
uncle. When you crawl into bed and
draw II up around your neck and under
your chin il leaves both your feet exposed
To the cold charity Of an unieeling world,
and when you bend your knees and tuck
1t under your feet your alabaster bust in
yitcs the chilling atmosphere 10 do It's
worst. You cover up your chest ut first
and catch II terrific cold In your head by
freezing Jour feet. Then you tryto warm
your feet along toward midnight, and by
exposing your chest you work up cough
that says Graveyard" every time you
bark. Finally you coil up in n
heap, cover both head and feet, COM
press your lungs and chest and
breath the poisoned air till morn
ing, and wake up with the consump.
ton. Not one of these tormentors that
had got a small hole torn in them, into
which every time you turn you thrust IA
toe, and either d.sl0cate "A joint or tear
the hole bigger In three or four directions.
Not one Of these quilts that are 80 much
longer than they are wide that If yon hap
pen To twist one Of them over you side
ways you think you have covered yourself
with u bolt Of muslin, stretched clear out
and only three-quarters Of yard wide.
The quilt that the old lady makes Is like
none Of these. 1t Is as big and warm as
grandma's heart You can tuck II under
your feet till IL comes up to your shoul.
ders, and cram Il down around your
shoulders ill il reaches your feet again,
and You can toss and kick and roll around
under it for a week before You find your
way out.
fhe patchwork quilt is generally, but
enormously, supposed to be family his
tory. This Is a part Of Aunt Susan
dress she was an old maid, you can see
nj n glance; that square was pulled out OF
the bottom Of her rag bag, where il had lain
undisturbcd for nineteen years, until the
children got crazy to make quilt for the
fair. That Is piece Of mas old dress, be.
cause with six girls in the family there
are no new dresses for ma, and the old
one had 10 furnish It's quota. These three
came OF the girls tie.backs; and that
ends The family history Of the average
patchwork quilt. The other ga patches
the girls begged of the neighbors, stole
from other girls, and obtained from the
dry. goods clerks under the spccious pre-.
tense Of showing them to ma, 10 see II she
liked them before ordering the dress pat
tern, the invariabe experience Of the
clerks being that ma didn't like them
at all.