“But, Mary, I’ve not yet finished that trunk and its contents.  That slightly-faded pink chambray I’ll cut up into quilt blocks.  Made up with white patches, and quilted nicely, a pretty quilt lined with white, will be evolved.  I have such a pretty design of pink and white called the ‘Winding Way,’ very simple to make.  The beauty of the quilt consists altogether in the manner in which the blocks are put together, or it might be made over the pattern called ’The Flying Dutchman.’  From that tan linen skirt may be made a laundry bag, shoe pocket, twine bag, a collar bag and a table runner, the only expense being several skeins of green embroidery silk, and a couple yards of green cord to draw the bags up with, and a couple of the same-hued skirt braids for binding edges, and,” teasingly, “Mary, you might embroider Ralph Jackson’s initials on the collar and laundry bag.”

[Illustration: 

A-12 Pine Tree Quilt
A-13 Tree of Life
A-14 Pineapple
A-15 Enlarged Block of Winding Way Quilt
A-16 Lost Rose in the Wilderness
A-17 Tree Quilt]

Mary blushed rosily red and exclaimed in an embarrassed manner, most bewitchingly, “Oh!”

Aunt Sarah laughed.  She thought to have Mary look that way ’twas worth teasing her.

“Well, Mary, we can in leisure moments, from that coarse, white linen skirt which you have discarded, make bureau scarfs, sideboard cover, or a set of scalloped table mats to place under hot dishes on your dining-room table.  I will give you pieces of asbestos to slip between the linen mats when finished.  They are a great protection to the table.  You could also make several small guest towels with deep, hemstitched ends with your initials on.  You embroider so beautifully, and the drawn work you do is done as expertly as that of the Mexican women.”

“Oh, Aunt Sarah, how ingenious you are.”

“And, Mary, your rag carpet shall not be lacking.  We shall tear up those partly-worn muslin skirts into strips one-half inch in width, and use the dyes left over from dyeing Easter eggs.  I always save the dye for this purpose, they come in such pretty, bright colors.  The rags, when sewed together with some I have in the attic, we’ll have woven into a useful carpet for the home you are planning.’

“Oh!  Aunt Sarah,” exclaimed Mary, “do you mean a carpet like the one in the spare bedroom?”

“Yes, my dear, exactly like that, if you wish.”

“Indeed I do, and I think one like that quite good enough to have in a dining-room.  I think it so pretty.  It does not look at all like a common rag carpet.”