her was quilted in the elaborate pattern
known as "feather-work."

As much ingenuity was exercised in the design of the quilting as in the
pattern of the patchwork, and the marking for the quilt design was
exceedingly tedious, since, of course, no drawings could be used. I
remember seeing one quilt marked by chalking strings which were
stretched tightly across at the desired intervals, and held up and
snapped smartly down on the quilt, leaving a faint chalky line to guide
the eye and needle. Another simple design was to quilt in rounds, using
a saucer or plate to form a perfect circle.

The most elaborate quilt I know of is of silk containing portions of the
wedding-dress of Esther Powel, granddaughter of Gabriel Bernon; she was
married to James Helme in 1738. When her granddaughter was married in
1795, the quilt was still unfinished, and a woman was hired who worked
on it for six months, putting a miracle of fine stitches in the
quilting. I think she must have been very old and very slow, for the
wages paid her were but twenty cents a week and "her keep," which was
very small pay even in that day of small wages. When Washington came to
Newport, this splendid quilt was sent to grace the bed upon which the
hero slept.

I said a few summers ago to a farmer's wife who lived on the outskirts
of a small New England hill-village: "Your home is very beautiful. From
every window the view is perfect." She answered quickly: "Yes, but it's
awful lonely for me, for I was born in Worcester; still I don't mind as
long as we have plenty of quiltings." In answer to my questions she told
me that the previous winter she had "kept count," and she had helped at
twenty-eight "regular" quiltings, besides her own home patchwork and
quilt-making, and much informal help of neighbors on plain quilts. Any
one who has attended a county fair (one not too modernized and spoiled)
and seen the display of intricate patchwork and quilting still made in
country homes, can see that it is not an obsolete accomplishment.

A form of decorative work in which many women took great delight and
became astonishingly skilful was what was known, or at any rate
advertised, by the ambitious title of Papyrotamia. It was simply the
cutting out of stiff paper of various decorative and ornamental designs
with scissors. At the time of the Revolution it was evidently deemed a
very high accomplishment, and the best pieces of work were carefully
cherished, mounted on bla