Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 216, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 September 1918 — WHAT CAN WE DO? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WHAT CAN WE DO?

The war is bringing in the good, oldfashioned practice of thrifty arts, among them the making of patchwork quilts. Women who have the time are collecting the samples of woolen cloth which tailors for men and women keep to submit to their patrons and to order goods from. The samples—called “swatches” —are' . sometimes quite large—something like eight inches long and four inches wide, making a goodsized block. They are usually tipped in an album or have small tickets pasted on the back of the goods, and at the end of each season are no longer of any use to the tailor, for cloth manufacturers supply him with new samples’for the next season. The swatches, being of uniform size,

can be easily pieced together into little quilts for the use of French and Belgian refugee children. They are to be lined with soft canton flannel, which adds to their warmth and makes them comfortable to the touch, and finished With a braid binding or any other method of quick and durable finishing. They are about as large as a large baby blanket, but the size is a thing to use one’s own judgment about Fuel is scarce in France and these cozy little quilts will help keep many an unfortunate little victim of the war comfortably warm during the coming winter. Besides this is another step in the conservation of wool and in the practice of thrift which is a habit Americans need to acquire.