In a book called "Prayers for Sale" by Sandra Dallas I found these thoughts:
Maudie Sarsfield was the workingest woman in Tenmile. She quilted for others for a half-dollar a spool. She spent a week using up all the thread on the spool, because she took six to eight stitches in an inch, but she liked doing the quilting. "Quilting keeps me from going queer." she told Hennie. Maudie stitched her initials on quilts when she finished. Not one in ten women she quilted for ever noticed the M.S., but Maudie took pleasure in it. She knew it was a bit of foolishness, but that was her way of being remembered. After all, a woman didn't leave much behind in the world to show she'd been there. Even the children she bore and raised got their father's name. But her quilts, now that was something she could pass on ... but if her initials were hidden in some other woman's quilts, why something of her would go on living.
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This made me think about the generosity of this board:
Women had a way of sharing, and Maudie knew that it would be an unkindness to turn them down, for she was well aware they acted out of love. Accepting the work was her way of thanking the women for their generosity.
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She was glad to see a quilt in the frame, for it had been empty since she'd finished her Bear Paw, and the room looked out of sorts without a quilt in it.
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After complaining about the behavior of another character in the book: "But she quilts first-rate. A woman isn't all bad if she turns out good quilts."
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The book isn't about quilting. It's a woman who lives in a mining town in Colorado and is being asked by her daughter to move in with her to avoid the harsh winters. It's set in the 1930's.