52 
House & Garden 
! 
THE 
RETURN OF QU 
An Old Domestic Art Revived Serves Its Decorative 
Charming in yellows and 
reds is a nasturtium design 
for table runners and 
luncheon sets 
O UILTING is com¬ 
ing into its own 
again. It is the same 
gay quilting that once 
served to pass many 
pleasant hours for our 
grandmothers, in the 
days when everyone be¬ 
lieved woman’s place 
was in the home and 
when one’s guests were 
content to sit around a 
huge frame and watch 
delectable fruits and 
flowers grow under 
their busy fingers, while 
the}' diverted themselves with gossip followed, 
in due course, by a tea that makes one hunger 
even to think of. Nowadays we seat our guests 
around bridge tables and wear out our nervous 
energy over the gay little pasteboards that, we 
must admit, generally show us a debit at the 
end of the year. Bridge is easy, but the mak¬ 
ing of a quilted bedspread is a labor not lightly 
undertaken alone. Genuinely old quilts are 
eagerly snapped up by collectors, but since all 
of us cannot afford these little luxuries, we are 
seizing on the modern copies and adaptations. 
Modern Quilted Work 
The new versions of this old story are lighter 
in conception than the old, and fit charmingly 
into almost any simple modern decoration. 
Not only quilts but curtains, runners, chair 
covers, head rests, table cloths, napkins and 
cushions all fall under the spell with delight¬ 
ful results. Most women like to feel that 
something of their own 
handiwork has gone into 
their homes and in these 
days of mass manufacture 
even the long sway she held 
over the embroidering of 
her house linens is passing 
into the hands of the expert. 
Perhaps that is the reason 
quilting is gaining such 
favor, for it is so essentially 
a home product. 
Purposes Again in the Route 
A woman who is fond of contriving gay 
schemes and decorative effects with her needle 
will find designing a pattern a delightful vari¬ 
ation from her usual embroideries, but for the 
woman who loves the work but likes it to come 
to her prepared there are other methods. On 
the Old Rye Road nearer New York than 
Boston, housed by two old Colonial cottages, 
is an association established in 1912, to revive 
the beautiful American art of quilting, and 
here delightful articles are prepared de luxe 
for the modern woman. In short, the society 
Mauves, purple and greens make up 
the grape design on a delightful 
luncheon set for the country cottage 
will “go partners” with you and make up a 
design to your order to match your color 
scheme. The various patterns come basted 
ready for stitching. 
The designs are developed by using patches 
of cambric or chambray of different patterns 
assembled to give the best idea of the flower 
chosen. For instance, if you are using the 
“hollyhock” pattern you would choose a plain 
rose pink material for the open flower with a 
little cross-barred cambric to simulate the buds 
and plain green linen for the stalks. The 
“prairie rose”, seeming to call for something 
to give the idea of a shaded bloom, is devel¬ 
oped in a faintly dotted material. 
The lighter pieces such as table runners, 
cushion covers, curtains and bedspreads are 
carried out in plain linen or unbleached mus¬ 
lin unlined and unquilted and finished with a 
band of the color predominating in the pattern. 
The quilted bedcovers, cot sides, chair seats 
and the like are padded and stitched in the 
usual way after the pattern has been com¬ 
pleted. When the actual quilting is not prac¬ 
ticable at home, the society will do it. 
Repeat Patterns 
It is interesting to note how the pattern is 
repeated on the various articles in the most 
artistic and suitable manner. For instance, 
the adaptation of the hollyhock pattern can 
be noted throughout the series of articles. The 
bedspread shows two sprays of blooms branch¬ 
ing diagonally from the center and the curtains 
are decorated with three upstanding plants 
each one a little taller than its neighbor and 
each in a different period of blooming, while 
the little table runner illus¬ 
trated at the bottom of the 
page shows miniature holly¬ 
hocks that are prettily prim. 
A charming child’s room 
was developed in the “prai¬ 
rie rose pattern” — little 
quilted cot-sides had an 
intriguing suggestion of the 
design which grew into full 
beauty on the cot covers and 
curtains. 
7 he hollyhock pattern shows prim, upstanding plants and comes in a plain rose 
pink material for the open flower with cross-barred cambric for the buds and plain 
green linen for stalks 
1 he prairie rose de¬ 
sign is appliqued to 
unbleached muslin 
and comes ready for 
sewing 
