Lowell native Sally Palmer learned quilting from an aunt on the family's farm in Maine. She made her first quilt using old wool carded and spun on the farm. She also helped her mother make tied quilts. "Mother had five children. She made quilts that kept them all warm."

Each one of this quilt's 176 squares features a different pattern. The tiny stitching, color choices, and patterns are fine examples of New England quiltmaking. Sally ran a quilt shop, the House of Patchwork, and taught quilt making out of her Chelmsford home for many years. This quilt served as a teaching tool.