Luke Haynes’s Clothes Portrait series is self-limited by the palette of the clothing worn by the subjects. Similarly, the soldiers’ quilts made primarily by British military men are dependent upon the wool serge or woven worsted twill recycled from uniforms. These quilts are highly geometric, in part because of the weight of the fabrics, and also because the mathematical precision was appealing to the makers. This type of quilt, often associated with the Crimean War years and with British conflicts in India, is sometimes called a “convalescent quilt” because it was a therapeutic activity recommended to occupy soldiers recovering from wounds or sickness.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Soldier's Quilt: Square within a Square," exhibition label for alt_quilts: Sabrina Gschwandtner, Luke Haynes, Stephen Sollins. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2013.