''Needlework has the advantage over many other arts that it requires but little space. Its materials are few, light, and portable; it is an art that can be practised anywhere, requiring no expensive plant, or even any special sort of workshop or studio. It is an entirely domestic art, and its greatest charm is its personal and homclikc characte suggestiveness. I think we might discern very distinct differences of aim in needlework which should naturally regulate the treatment and choice of material. When the design and expression is of a very abstract character, and its decorative effect mainly depends upon arrangement and quality of line, one would say the simpler the better, since the ideas are conveyed by means of suggestion rather than by any attempt at realisation of form in 'its full substance and colour.''

Crane, Walter. “Needlework as a Mode of Artistic Expression.”The International Studio22 (1898)