all the particulars of this plentiful
meal; but the stewed chicken was tender and we had coffee again.

"Polly M's husband now came over the creek in the boat, to take her
home, and he warned her against the evening dampness. The rest of us
quilted a while by candles, and got the second quilt done at about
seven. At this quilting there was little gossip, and less scandal. I
displayed my new alpaca and my dyed merino and the Philadelphia bonnet
which exposes the back of my head to the wintry blast. Polly, for her
part, preferred a black silk sunbonnet; and so we parted, with mutual
invitations to visit."

The proverbial neatness of the ancestors of the Dutch colonists in
America was characteristic of their homes in the new land. This is
well illustrated in the following description of a Pennsylvania Dutch
farmer's home, similar to the one in which the quilting above
mentioned took place: "We keep one fire in winter. This is in the
kitchen which, with nice housekeepers, is the abode of neatness, with
its rag carpet and brightly polished stove. Adjoining the kitchen is a
state apartment, also rag-carpeted, and called 'the room.' Will you go
upstairs in a neat Dutch farmhouse? There are rag carpets again. Gay
quilts are on the best beds, where green and red calico, perhaps in
the form of a basket, are displayed on a white ground; or the beds
bear brilliant coverlets of red, white, and blue, as if to 'make the
rash gazer wipe his eyes.'"

There are many things to induce women to piece quilts. The desire for
a handsome bed furnishing, or the wish to make a gift of one to a dear
friend, have inspired some women to make quilts. With others, quilt
making is a recreation, a diversion, a means of occupying restless
fingers. However, the real inducement is love of the work; because the
desire to make a quilt exceeds all other desires. In such a case it is
worked on persistently, laid aside reluctantly, and taken up each time
with renewed interest and pleasure. It is this intense interest in the
work which produces the most beautiful quilts. On quilts that are made
because of the genuine interest in the work, the most painstaking
efforts are put forth; the passing of time is not considered; and the
belief of the majority of such quilt makers, though unconfessed,
doubtless, is the equivalent of the old Arab proverb that "Slowness
comes from God, but hurry from the devil."

All women who are lonely do not live in isolated farmhou