 By the 18th century , sampler making had become an important part of girls ' education in boarding and institutional schools . A commonplace component was now an alphabet with numerals , possibly accompanied by various crowns and coronets , all used in marking household linens . Traditional embroidered motifs were now rearranged into decorative borders framing lengthy inscriptions or verses of an " improving " nature and small pictorial scenes . These new samplers were more useful as a record of accomplishment to be hung on the wall than as a practical stitch guide . 
