Quilters follow artistic patterns based on tradition and their own inherent skill. This mosaic or honeycomb quilt was an elegant one made of silk and velvet sewn onto a black background. It was made around 1875 by Kate Melvina Newton (1851-1911) of Greenfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of John and Angeline Newton. Kate married her sister Anna's widower, Solon J. Wiley, who was a wealthy manufacturer in Greenfield.