Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-01

In the main, ttere may be said tc
States today-thoae who were brought
up in the tradition of patchwork quilts
and those who were rot.
Those who have. slept under a quit
| incompatible coveEing for Spring a1o
Autumn, feel sorrys for those who have
not. Something Ras been missed Out
Of their lives.
Men as we'll as women may know and
appreciate the quilt, although perhap.
no man ever mads one The. quilt IL
one article that was and ever has been
and ever will be strictly feminine.
Even today, when few who piece
them ever quilt tr5sm. quilt making Is
patient, tedious process utterly pc
yond the mind or hands OF any nut u
! woman.
Men may adnise beauty, however
and pay tribute to labor, and so come
to appreciate the PATCHWORK quit es
"one of the most picturesque OF sli
American folks arts"
So saws Ruth E.. Finley in her new
book, "Old Patchwork Quilts ana the
women Who Made Them" published
by the j. B. Lipptrcott Company Of
Philadelphia.
aid to the collector, odd Patchwork
Quilts" will prove OF interest 70 Lne
Knows how TO write (truly an indis-
pensable qualityD. but also she mas
unmarried her book to an unusual
point. n.a
about e definitely feminine accomplish
n1ent, and come not only to oetter
understanding Of graoe9M ana useIol
work. but also to saner conception OF
Colonial days. ways and people. The1e
is great deal here about history as
we'll as the patchwork quilt.
Asa sample Of Miss Finleys easy prose
style we quote the following from her
forevord: To-day We admire the oeauty
of Winrchair. little thinking that It's
inclosed back was originally designed
To cut off the drafts of the lily heated
houses of our ancestors. Such creations
do more than serve the purpose 1or
which they we're intended: they re-
main as aids to understanding OF Ihe
There is perhaps no more faithful
record of bygone days In America tnsn
patchwork quilts, both because they
represent a craft practiced exclusively
in the home for more than two CEN
turtles and because their designers gave
them symbolic meaning. There never
was a quilt pieced that did not bear
name, and these names are Vlvldly sig
niicant. Quilt names tell the story
of both the inner and outer life OF many
generations of American Uomanhood
For e. vas women, and women only
who made quilts and named them.
"While the present-day vogue 1oi
patchwork is due primarily to deeply
STIMULATED interest In all things his
torically expressive of our national
background and growth, the WIDE eno
varied use of old quilts undoubtedly has
been greatly furthered by the modern
jstic trend in every branch OF decora'
ton toward brilliance of color and bold.
ness of line. Today's taste is not
shocked by such antique combinations
as purple and cerise. nor by compost
ton so stark as to be geometrlcal.
"The curious result is that the Older
quilt patterns, particularly those thai
are of geometrical design, are as mucr
at home among the angles and straight
lines of the most severe futurlstic fur.
nishinrs as they are when surrounded
nv the graceful curves of Queen Anne
or the elaborate carvings of Victoria
Indeed, many of the modernist!c fabric
designs are so nearly duplicates OF an
tique guilt patterns as to appear plagia'
ristic.'
early women Of America were the Gus
todians Of the furniture, brass, CHINA
etc. which filled Colonial homes. they
themselves did not make any OF these
things. In needlework only did women
hold full sway,
Women as we'll as men, we have dis
covered, may have woefully inadequate