Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-05-01
COUNTRY QUILTING BEES.
Jolly Parties Help to Pass Away
Dreary Days on the Farm.

Jolly Parties Help to Pass Away
Dreary Days on the Farm.
All, the happy winter quilting bees Of
Berks County Can any one section Of
the country surpass this in the joys of
one Of the most eXacting and least re
munerative tasks? asks a writer in the
New York Herald at Hereford, Pa. No
winter Is a winter In this part of the
country without it's quilting bees, where
the women's heads bob close over the
pretty silken patches and the labors
Of love are transformed into active rec
reation.
The preliminary work Of making the
bed quilt is usually begun by the
grandmother or the school girl, the lat
ter Of whom readily finds an hour of
leisure between her st Idly hour and the
time she usually retires. The patches
for making these wonderful quilts and
bedspreads are Of every description,
and, first of all, they are cut to their
proper sizes-some tiny, little pieces,
often only half an inch square, others
In circles, stars and diamonds, and
many others according to the ideal
taste Of the housewife, who may have
planned the patterns years before she
thrust the first needle through the
calico or silk. This fine work necessi-
tates lots of sewing and 1t often takes
the entire family-that Is the femi-
nine members-several winters to pre-
pare the patches before the coverlet
is ready for the quilting frame.
After all the tiny patches have been
sewed together into strips the strips
are sewed together and the spread is
frame, where the tedious work that
becomes such recreation begins.
The work of quilting a spread takes
many days, If only few women do it
at the farmhouse. So the summons
goes around from house to house that
a quilting" is to take place at GER
tain neighbours all day Saturday.
Bright and early they make their way
to the place, each equipped with
thimble. The mistress Of the house
and they sit around the spread on -four
sides and work toward each other
Usually the number Is only limited to
the outside space that can be Occu-
pied, and when the work draws to the
center of the spread only half the num-
Der that started can work The other
half will not then be idle, as the mis-
tress has always another job of SINH
lar nature on hand.
1t often occurs that half a dozen
spreads are completed at one farm
house in a single winter, FOR the quilt
ing party is to the women what the
fox chase is to the men Of the farm.
The ladies usually have a very good
time, as it occurs at an Opportune sea
son, when the farmhouse larder is filled
with sausages, fresh meat, scrapple and
mincemeat. Hence they have lots Of
goodies to eat; and, with the fancy
cakes and the sweet cider, why
shouldn't they be happy?
Nearly every farm wife has a diff
ferent way Of how to make her spread:
hnQ lnuS we u1u the TdlnDOW quilt
''star" or a ''log cabin" pattern, crazy
patch" and pavement" designs and,
finally, the Jacobs ladder outline"
prettiest of them all. In all these pat
terms the color work has to harmonic.
Throughout the winter season such
events occur every week at one or the
other of the farmhouses and the work
is part of the social life of the coun-
tryside
Another pastime which affords lots
Of amusement is the carpet-rag party
holding forth during the winter months
among rural folks All the old rags
that accumulate and WORKOUT dresses.
trousers and linens are cut into mar
row strips and sewed together by the
young women, who gather at an even
ing's sewing party, while their young
man friends sit to the rear and twist
the love strings" upon balls weighing
a pound or two and, when the evening
work is done, they all join in the dance
for several hours, to the music doled