Cross-stitching has traditionally been seen as women’s work. It was taught as a handicraft, primarily to keep hands from being idle, and to promote often trite adages that were tediously stitched into fabric. Cross-stitch sampler kits are now preloaded with the necessary fabric, floss, and pattern required to create a specific design or adage. When expertly completed, the handiwork looks exactly like the promised pattern: a religious verse, a bouquet of flowers, a child’s name and birthdate.

http://www.utahmoca.org/portfolio/whitney-bushman/