Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1879 — LITTLE BY LITTLE. [ARTICLE]

LITTLE BY LITTLE.

Grandma sat in her easy chair, with her pretty cap and her hair like snow, and a parcel of bundles and boxes about her. Grandma h&d sent for Elsie, and Felice, and Marion, her grand-daughters all three, for she said, “ I will give them all a chance;” and they were smiling when they came in, aud wondering too. “It is New Year,” began. Grandma, and then they were sure sliej had something to give them, anti they guessed aright. “I have a great task to do,” continued Grandma; and I want some help;” now Grandma begun undoing her parcels, and brought to view, in numberless patterns, small patches of all-colored silks, cut in squares or different devices, and tjie children were interested at once, for they had heard of Grandma’s wonderful quilts, and they were pleased to see their beginnings. “lam about to make two quilts,” continued Grandma; “I have here little patches saved from the time when I was a child, and all these years I have been saving and saving, and so you see what a collection I have made of pretty scraps of silks.” The children were picking out the prettiest pieces and laying them together. “Here is the beginning of one, and there is the beginning of a second; but it is a great work to make two quilts.” Everybody agrped to that in a minute: it must be a great work. “Now I have proposed to make;” said Grandma, eyeing the children from under her golden glasses; “I will make one half of each quilt if some body or bodies will make the other halves, and when it is all sowed together neatly and tastefully I will send it to the quilter to be quilted; and give it to the one w r ho has had the patience to help make it, and get it done by the next New Year.” “Do you mean it for us? Will you give them to us?’ r inquired Elsie and Felice, but Marion stood considering over it. *

“I would like to help you, Grandma,” said Marion, thoughtfully; “but I could never do it, and it would not be Worth while to try.” “Could never do it? Child, you make a mistake. I did the piece you see spread out in less than a week, working by snatches, and I only kept it for spare minutes, but I do not see as well as I used to, and it tries my eyes looking at the colors, and 1 want some help, for I do quite long to see the quilts made up, I havo been so long hoarding the silk.” “ Grandma, I never could do half of a quilt.” “Oh, I eould,” said Felice, and Elsie was sure that she could—they could do anything for the sake of sewing such lovely bits of silk. Grandma sighed; she hail hoped in Marion. “I might do some of it.” “ That is not the thing,” said Grand-* ma, kindly; “ I offer these hoardings of a great many years as a New Year gift to either of you children who will regard them enough to sew them together the coming year; if begun I want them finished.” “I wish I could, Grandma; but if I promise”— “If you promise you will keep it, and, before you begin, make up your mind that you will finish it. There is no better time for good resolutions to be made than the New Year.” “ But there arc so many patches—hundreds and hundreds!” “You have three hundred and sixtyfive days to look forward to in the coming year; an hour every working day would give you over three hundred hours to sew' patches, and how many could you put together in an hqur?” “ A good many.” “ Now, you see, an hour a day would be too much; all you would require would be some of your spare minutes.” “But there are lessons and lots of things.”, “Then you do not want any N«w Year gift.” “ We do,” said Elsie and Felice, who ran away for needles and thimbles. “I do,” said Marion, looking up with a smile; and Grandma knew that this was a promise. Elsie anil Felice sewed a bit and got tired and forgot Grandma’s quilts, but Marion made a duty of sewing as well as a pleasure. It was a big work. Grandma passed the whole of her share of the patches over to her, and tired enough she got looking at them; many a time she felt like stowing them aßaway; many a time she felt as though %he could cry over them. Then she came to a good plan; she put them all in a box out of sight, and took a certain number from it to sew upon every day, and she did not sew or see the whole at once, but only the few at a time; and, somehow, from being a bore to sew patches it came to be pleasant work, and from sewing a few she found spare time to sew more; from being a little bit idle about her needle, she got to using it brisk enough; and I will tell you what happened long.before the next New Year. Marion carried the half of the quilt to Grandma, all sewed, and Grandma gave her the patches for a second, for Marion found more spare minutes than she could have imagined, and found that a great task is really nothing more than a number

of little ones, if it to properly divided up; and I do not believe that any gift ever gave .her more pleasure than Grandma’s New Year gift, which was doubled to two quilts.— George Mingle, in N. Y. Observer . # .