ort by the Gulf
of Mexico. On their return voyage these boats were laden with sacks of
coffee, quaint Chinese boxes of tea, china and silk from France, and
mahogany and silver from England. In this manner the finest fabrics,
which were hitherto obtainable only in those cities that possessed sea
communication, were available in every river hamlet. Many of the fine
old quilts now being brought to light in the Central West were wrought
of foreign cloth which has made this long journey in some farmer's
scow.

In England during the middle of the past century, the Victorian period
was known chiefly for its hideous array of cardboard mottoes done in
brilliant wools, crochet tidies, and wax flowers. It is particularly
fortunate that at this time the women of the United States were too
fully occupied with their own household arts and industries to take up
with the ideas of their English sisters. By far the best needlework
of this period were the beautiful quilts and bedspreads, exquisite in
colour and design, which were the product of American women. The
finest quilts were wrought along designs largely original with the
quilters themselves, who plied their needles in solitary farmhouses
and out-of-the-way hamlets to which the influence of English idea in
needlework could not penetrate. In no locality in our country can so
many rare and beautiful quilts be found as in the Middle West. Many of
the best were made during those early days of struggle for mere
existence, when they served the busy housewife as the one precious
outlet for her artistic aspirations.

The type of quilt that may be called distinctively American was
substantial in character; the material that entered into its
construction was serviceable, of a good quality of cotton cloth, or
handwoven linen, and the careful work put into it was intended to
stand the test of time. The coloured materials combined with the white
were also enduring, the colours being as nearly permanent as it was
possible to procure. Some cottons were dyed by the quilt makers
themselves, if desirable fast shades could not be readily procured
otherwise. The fundamental idea was to make a quilt that would
withstand the greatest possible amount of wear. Some of the artistic
possibilities in both colour and design were often subordinated to the
desire to make quilts as nearly imperishable as possible. The
painstaking needlework required to produce a quilt deserved the best
of material for its fo