In the absence of written evidence of female communities that existed

Alright, let me explain. So the passage is talking about how we don't have much written evidence about female communities from before the 19th century, but we can look at things like quilts and oral narratives to learn about them. Then it goes on to say that since most quilts were made for non-commercial use or as a hobby through colonial quilting, most wealthy women must have made quilts in the colonial style because...well, that's what the question is asking us to complete.

So let's look at the answer choices. We can eliminate A and E because they don't really relate to the argument. B is also irrelevant because it's talking about commercial uses of quilt-making, which isn't what the passage is about. D is tempting because it talks about women of all classes engaging in creative activity, but it doesn't really help us complete the passage.

That leaves us with C. It says that most women from wealthy families would have had the leisure time to engage in activities that were not part of their daily schedule. This supports the idea that wealthy women would have had the time to engage in hobbies like quilt-making, which would include the colonial style. So the answer is C.