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Stitcher is originally an American term for a person who performs the last steps in finishing an item of clothing in a garment factory or atelier.

Sampler is a Middle English word that derives from the Old French essamplaire and eventually from the Latin word exemplum or ‘an example.’ The earliest English written reference to the word sampler, meaning a piece of embroidery serving as a specimen of the worker’s skill, dates to the early sixteenth century.

A piece sampler is a term used by some authors to describe a collection of small pieces of cloth (samples) on which a person has worked out a new stitch or pattern.

Needler is an American term for a person who stitches an embroidery pattern.

Michaels Arts and Crafts is a popular retail chain throughout the USA and Canada, which was set up in 1973 and by 2014 had over one thousand outlets. Michaels Arts and Crafts sells inexpensive art and hobby supplies, including needles, cross stitch and other needlecraft kits, beading supplies, frames and embroidery threads.

A medallion quilt is a type of quilt popular in America and elsewhere. It has a central panel (of appliqué or patchwork) as the focal point, surrounded by two or more borders.

A marking sampler is a small piece of cloth with the alphabet, numbers (up to ten) and possibly the name of the girl who made the sampler. The alphabet and ciphers were regarded as enough for a person to show that she would be able to mark an object (such as a garment) with a name and number, even if she was semi-literate.

Maison Lesage, or Lesage et Cie, is a French embroidery house that specialises in embroidery and working with sequins. The Lesage family has been running an embroidery atelier (Maison) in Paris since 1860. In 1924 its director, Albert Lesage, bought another embroidery atelier, that of Albert Michonet in Paris, both of which he then built up, under the name Maison Lesage, to cater for French haute couture designers.

A log cabin quilt refers to a patchwork quilt made of blocks made up of narrow strips of fabrics (logs) formed around a central square. Blocks of the log cabin quilts often consist of light and dark coloured strips, repeated throughout the quilt. Materials could vary according to the quilter’s economic status, from silk and velvet to wool and cotton.

See Lefkara lace.