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Historical Background: Cross-stitch is one of the oldest forms of needlework and was very popular during the days of early America. Young girls everywhere practiced this timeless craft, learning the virtue of patience and developing a fine skill. Amish quilts are traditionally made of solid color fabrics, and although early examples were often very plain, the quilt stitches used to hold the layers of fabric together was very intricate and decorative.

Fun Fact: "Child Life in Colonial Days" by Alice Morse Early (1899) states that Mrs. Sara Wilson kept a boarding school in Philadelphia prior to the American Revolution and advertised: "Young ladies may be educated in a genteel manner, and pains taken to teach them in regard to their behavior, on reasonable terms. They may be taught all sorts of fine needlework, viz., working on catgut or flowering muslin, satin stitch, quince stitch, tent stitch, cross-stitch, open work, tambour, embroidering curtains or chairs, writing and cyphering."

Fun Fact: "L'encyclopEdie due Point de Croix" (Prima Donna Editions), a French document, states: "The oldest pieces of work, dated from around 850 B.C. came from Central Asia. But the real cross-stitch history starts in the Middle Ages. It was proven that between the 10th and 13th centuries, the Castilian, when waiting for long times, were copying charts from rugs that their husbands were bringing back from the Orient between two crusades."

For more information, please go to the historical backgrounds for our Early American Sampler (4201) and our Quilt Pattern Cross-Stitch Bookmark (4202).

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