f quilting are spaced farther
apart. The design of the top and the quilting lend themselves very
readily to all manner of variations, and as a result there is an
almost infinite variety of quilts.

For convenience in making, nearly every quilt is composed of a number
of blocks of regular form and size which, when joined together, make
the body of the quilt. Each of these blocks may have a design complete
in itself, or may be only part of a large and complicated design
covering the whole top of the quilt.

[Illustration: HARRISON ROSE

This quilt is at least 75 years old. The rose is pieced
of old rose and two shades of pink; the stem and leaves
are applique]

[Illustration: DETAIL OF HARRISON ROSE, SHOWING
QUILTING]

[Illustration: QUILTING DESIGNS

(a) Single Diagonal Lines
(b) Double Diagonal Lines
(c) Triple Diagonal Lines]

There is a radical distinction between the verbs "to piece" and "to
patch," as used in connection with the making of quilts. In this
instance the former means to join together separate pieces of like
material to make sections or blocks that are in turn set together to
form the top of the quilt. The pieces are usually of uniform shape and
size and of contrasting colours. They are sewed together with a
running stitch, making a seam upon the wrong side. The quilt called
"Star of the East" is an excellent example of a pieced quilt in which
a number of small pieced sections are united to form a single design
that embraces the entire top of the quilt.

Patches are commonly associated with misfortune. The one who needs
them is unfortunate, and the one who has to sew them on is usually an
object of sympathy, according to a wise old saw: "A hole may be
thought to be an accident of the day, but a patch is a sure sign of
poverty." But patch quilts belong to a different class than the
patches of necessity, and are the aristocrats of the quilt family,
while the pieced quilts came under the heading of poor relations.

However, this term is a misnomer when applied to some pieced quilts.
Many of the "scrap quilts," as they are called in some localities, are
very pretty when made from gay pieces--carefully blended--of the
various shades of a single colour. The stars in the design called
"The Unknown Star" are made of a great variety of different patterns
of pink calico, yet the blending is so good that the effect is greatly
heightened by the multiplicity of sh