Blocks are repeated fairly exactly, units are symmetrical, and everything shows evidence of a tight, rational control. Quilt making is a culturally important activity for Mormon women. It permits the homemaker to create useful and beautiful object for domestic use, and allows older women to stress the importance of family by making quilts for children, grandchildren, and other family members. It permits generations of women to work together on constructive projects. Finally, the act of quilting honors those pioneer Mormons who came into a desert land and, by their strict economies and hard work, succeeded in establishing farming communities.
Colors are frequently bright, with high contrast.
Designs may be quite large and simple. Most strikingly, control does not seem to be an important characteristic for the quilter to display. Better said, there is indeed control, but it is demonstrated in an unusual way, by allowing a note of unpredictability to creep into the finished work. Thus Mrs. Muldrow's quilt with the squares seems to concentrate on playing variations on a stated theme, just as a jazz or blues musician would. To make things more complex, the variations are not only in terms of color, but degree of color contrast.