Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Name: The Patchwork School
Author: Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Summary

“The Patchwork School”, published in 1888, is a work by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. It explores elements such as patchwork, Julia and stocking.

Quotes from The Patchwork School (Mary E. Wilkins Freeman)

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ She was dressed in a gown of bright-colored patchwork, with a patchwork shawl over her shoulders. Her cap was made of tiny squares of patchwork, too. "If they are sewing patchwork," went on the little old woman," they can't be in mischief. Just make 'em sit in little chairs and sew patchwork, boys and girls alike. Make 'em sit and saw patchwork, when the bees are flying over the clover, out in the bright sunlight, and the great blue-winged butterflies stop with the roses just outside the windows, and the robins are singing in the cherry-trees, and they'll turn over a new leaf, you'll see!" ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ But when he got there, the Mayor and Chinese Ambassador had been there before him, and there hung the eight pairs of blue yarn stockings under the mantel-shelf, crammed full of the most beautiful things—knives, balls, candy—everything he had ever wanted, and the mantel-shelf piled high also.
A great many of the presents were of Chinese manufacture; for the Ambassador considered them, of course, superior, and he wished to express his gratitude to Julia as forcibly as he could. There was one stocking entirely filled with curious Chinese tops. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ But perhaps the greatest cross which Julia had to bear, and the one from which he stood in the greatest danger of getting into the Patchwork School, was his Grandmothers. I don't mean to say that grandmothers are to be considered usually as crosses. A dear old lady seated with her knitting beside the fire, is a pleasant person to have in the house. But Julia had four, and he had to hunt for their spectacles, and pick up their balls of yarn so much that he got very little time to play. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ I will go and get you some dinner, and an extra coat. I will keep you company through the night, and morning will come before you know it."
"Well," sighed the Chinese Ambassador, standing on tiptoe so his queue should not pull so hard. He was a patient man, but after he had eaten his dinner the time seemed terribly long.
"Why don't you talk?" said he to the Mayor, who was dozing beside him in an easy-chair. "Can't you tell me a story?"
"I never did such a thing in my life," replied the Mayor, rousing himself; "but I am very sorry for you, dear sir, and perhaps the Patchwork Woman can." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ Every year Julia thought about it for weeks before Christmas, and hoped and hoped he would have something different this time, but there they always hung, and he had to go and kiss his Grandmothers, and pretend he liked the stockings the best of anything he could have had; for he would not have hurt their feelings for the world.
His parents might have bettered matters a little, but they did not wish to cross the old ladies either, and they had to buy so much yarn they could not afford to get anything else. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ Many a little boy on his way to school has dodged round a corner to avoid one, because he had just been telling his mother that another little boy's mother gave him twice as much pie for dinner as he had. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ There was a special set of police in the city, whose whole duty was to keep a sharp lookout for ill-natured, fretting children, who complained of their parents' treatment, and thought other boys and girls were much better off than they, and lo march them away to the school. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Patchwork School (1888)

“ The Ambassador's name was To-Chum. The children could not help stealing glances occasionally at his high eyebrows and braided queue, but they cast their eyes on their sewing again directly. The Mayor and the Ambassador staid about an hour; then after they had both made some remarks—the Ambassador made his in Chinese; he could speak English but his remarks in Chinese were wiser—they rose to go.
Illustration: THE GRANDMOTHERS ENJOY THE CHINESE TOYS.
Now, the door of the Patchwork School was of a very peculiar structure. ”

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Summary

Quotes from The Patchwork School (Mary E. Wilkins Freeman)

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