Delano’s caption ballparks the woman’s  age and implies the hardships she had lived through. Yet the quilts—not referenced in the caption—serve as an essential part of the composition, which feels part collage, with the squares and triangles of fabrics on the quilts echoing the papered walls of the sparse living quarters. The maker constructed these quilts from scraps, not using the ubiquitous published patterns available in newspapers and magazines; in doing so, her quilts communicate the woman’s ability to creatively piece together bits and pieces in order to get by, sustaining herself over generations.