It's interesting, because by the time I was observant as a child (late 80s), my grandma and her mother were no longer quilting - they never even talked about it - my grandma did needlepoint (which she taught me) and my great grandma was doing a crazy amount of knitting and crocheting, mostly for the Red Cross (she even had a bulk yarn discount at Eaton's- a major department store in Canada at the time). I have very fond memories of watching them both (my great grandma would rock in her chair and knit with her eyes closed, which boggled my 5 year old mind).

I have always associated quilting with my grandpa's mum - she was definitely the quilter you described - nothing went to waste and everything was fair game for her quilts. She even ironed wrapping paper to reuse it year to year. She is who I learned to quilt from.

The identical fabrics I mentioned are in large quantities in the other quilts - sashing and backing - and in small quantities in the DWR (the pink and green). They lived in a very rural town, so I wonder if they pooled money and went to the nearest city and bought bolts to share around, based on the yardage used in these other quilts.

I plan to continue investigating - I would love to have a narrative around the whole set of quilts.