Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

174 Photo . Cassell & Co., Ltd. QUILTERS AT WORK. WELSH COTTAGE INDUSTRIES. I.—QUILTING, KNITTING, AND NETTING. THE picturesquely whitewashed and thatched cottages of “ gallant little Wales” are the home—although, alas! not such a busy one as in the good old days —of several useful and beautiful domestic industries, of which, if we except spinning and weaving as fast outgrowing their humble origin, the old-time art of quilting may now be said to be the chief Many a careful housewife sets the “ cawl ” (broth) before her Taffy, and celebrates her tea-drinking, in her kitchen amidst the baking “ plank ” bread and the pathetically recognis- able portions of her slaughtered piggy, that the quilting frame may occupy the parlour. To be sure, a Welsh cooking place is a rarely artistic corner with its flagged floor, lattice window, ancient oak settle and dresser, the last a picture in itself, with “ old Swansea and the forgotten but now prized “ lustre ’ china, and collectors would rejoice in an invitation. In small cottages the importance of the quilting frame banishes even the great bed with Taffy and the tea parties to the kitchen, where its checked gingham canopy and ample proportions touch the rafters and barely squeeze between the wall and the ingle nook. Sunday alone supersedes “ the frame,” when the quilting room becomes the “ Bible parlour.” The work is tucked away, the old three-legged table is dragged forth and orna- mented with a crochet mat on which “ the Book ” is reverently laid, and the family bury- ing cards hanging on the walls are the only connecting link between seventh-day smart- ness and workaday week-days. The quilting frame is simply two lengths of wood, generally black with age, connected by two cross bars and raised on supports about four feet from the ground. It is capable 01 reduction or enlargement by means of holes and wooden pegs. A ribbon of coarse web- bing, to which the quilt is tacked, is nailed to the inner side of each length and crossbar. The method of work is ingenious but excel- lent. The material to be quilted is carefully measured into quarters and eighths before it is tacked in the frame, so that the vegetable down stuffing may be evenly distributed. A pound to a pound and a half is used for each quilt, and this is quartered and halved again to correspond with the divisions on the fabric. When all is ready, the top piece oi material is laid on and the work begins. The advantage of the vegetable down stuffing over the eiderdown stuffing is that it washes beautifully, and, owing to the close stitching of the Welsh workers, without fear of dis- placement. Lately eyelet holes have been introduced, so the quilts are now well ven- tilated as well as sanitary.