I loved this story of a quilter from a few generations back, Mrs. Bill Stage:
http://dscriber.com/front/item/the-g...he-1930s-574-8. To think of doing this beautiful work while living on a homestead and working in fields is amazing to me- and we fuss about finding time and affording materials, etc.! Apparently she made many other quilts as well.
BTW, the photo series is amazing, this is a link to it on the page. Most of these people had virtually nothing and still found ways to have a book club, sunday school, and music lessons for their children! Great story of ingenuity and community spirit.