doing, but also in the joy of possession--which can be
passed on even to future generations, for a well-made quilt is a
lasting treasure.

All this is quite apart from the strictly useful functions which
quilts perform so creditably in every home, for quilts are useful as
well as artistic. In summer nights they are the ideal emergency
covering for the cool hour before dawn, or after a rapid drop in
temperature, caused by a passing thunderstorm. But in the long chill
nights of winter, when the snow sifts in through the partly raised
window and all mankind snuggles deeper into the bed clothes, then all
quilts may be truly said to do their duty. And right well they do it,
too, as all those who love to linger within their cozy shelter on
frosty December mornings will testify.

[Illustration: THE DOGWOOD QUILT

Offers another choice in flower designs. The full-grown
blossoms on the green background remind us of the beauty
of trees and flowers in early spring]

As a promoter of good-will and neighbourly interest during the times
when our new country was being settled, and woman's social intercourse
was very limited, the "quilting bee" holds a worthy place close beside
the meeting-house. The feeling of cooperation so noticeable in all men
and growing communities, and which is really essential for their
success, is aptly described in the old "Annals of Tennessee,"
published by Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey in 1853 ("Dedicated to the surviving
pioneers of Tennessee"):

"To say of one he has no neighbours was sufficient, in those times of
mutual wants and mutual benefactions, to make the churl infamous and
execrable. A failure to ask a neighbour to a raising, clearing, a
chopping frolic, or his family to a quilting, was considered a high
indignity; such an one, too, as required to be explained or atoned for
at the next muster or county court. Each settler was not only willing
but desirous to contribute his share to the general comfort and public
improvement, and felt aggrieved and insulted if the opportunity to do
so were withheld. 'It is a poor dog that is not worth whistling for,'
replied the indignant neighbour who was allowed to remain at home, at
his own work, while a house raising was going on in the neighbourhood.
'What injury have I done that I am slighted so?'"

Quilts occupied a preeminent place in the rural social scheme, and the
quilting bees were one of the few social diversions afforded outside
of the