The earliest samplers were reference works for embroiderers. They showed 'samples' of patterns and stitches and recorded how to achieve particular effects. In Europe in the 17th century samplers provided instruction and practice for girls learning needlework. Making a sampler was part of a girl's school education throughout the 18th century and into the early 1800s. By this time embroidered samplers were very often a simple and undemanding exercise. The girl who made this sampler has put in pleasing personal details. She has included a garden scene in the foreground, carefully laid out for perspective. The figures may be members of her family.