Therefore, very few American samplers were worked in the 1600's. It took about twenty years at the beginning of the eighteenth century before American samplers came into their own style and the English sampler characteristics disappeared. American samplers consisted mostly of alphabets, numbers, and verses separated with rows of much lesser quality patterns. But a lot of thought and planning gave them form and coherence of design that was lacking in English samplers of the same time period. New England was the most prolific in producing samplers followed then by Long Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
American samplers fall into two classes along the lines of the schools of the eighteenth century.
Older girls, then in finishing schools, produced a more elaborate sampler with more originality. Well to do girls would have the opportunity to make two samplers. The average age of girls who made samplers after the seventeenth century was thirteen. Early in the eighteenth century a decision was made that defined what was a sampler and what was a needlework picture. These pieces, as well as samplers, were used to decorate the walls of their homes.