"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." "No, my dear, it is nothing very uncommon. It is all in the way it is woven. Instead of having two gay rainbow stripes about three inches wide running through the length of the carpet, I had it woven with the ground work white and brown chain to form checks. Then about an inch apart were placed two threads of two shades of red woolen warp, alternating with two threads of two shades of green, across the whole width, running the length of the carpet. It has been greatly admired, as it is rather different from that usually woven. All the rag carpets I found in the house when we moved here, made by John's mother, possessed very wide stripes of rainbow colors, composed of shaded reds, yellows, blues and greens. You can imagine how very gorgeous they were, and so very heavy. Many of the country weavers use linen chain or warp instead of cotton, and always use wool warp for the stripes." "Aunt Sarah, I want something so very much for the Colonial bedroom I should like to have when I have a home of my very own." "What is it, dear? Anything, e'en to the half of my kingdom," laughingly replied her Aunt. "Why, I'd love to have several rag rugs like those in your bedroom, which you call 'New Colonial' rugs." "Certainly, my dear. They are easily made from carpet rags. I have already planned in my mind a pretty rag rug for you, to be made from your old, garnet merino shirtwaist, combined with your discarded cravenette stormcoat. "And you'll need some pretty quilts, also," said her Aunt. "I particularly admire the tree quilts," said Mary.