Art
This silk sampler is a girl's schoolwork—part needlework and part alphabet practice. In the 1790s, fancy needlework was how families taught daughters discipline, patience, and the ornamental skills expected of respectable women.
Art · Full story
Peggy's fingers are pricked and sore. She leans close to the linen stretched in her lap, counting threads, pulling silk through with the same careful attention her teacher demands. Every stitch must be perfect. Every letter must be even. Her sampler will hang in the parlor someday, proof that she learned what matters.
Reflect
What skill or subject did you have to practice over and over as a child? How did it shape who you became?