Scholars have documented quilts similar to this one, hand-pieced from a multitude of tiny wool triangles, squares, and diamonds, as the work of injured British soldiers during the 1880s. According to Janet Rae's The Quilts of the British Isles, some of the men who made similar quilts demonstrated a competitive approach by seeing “how many pieces of uniform fabric could be united in one cover.” 

Albert Small—a tall, hulking man from Illinois—operated heavy equipment and handled dynamite at his quarry day job. In the evenings he stitched tiny hexagons into quilts. Small’s greatest accomplishment—named one of the 100 best American quilts of the 20th century—included over 123,000 quarter inch hexagons and more than four years of labor.