The Biblical forbiding of making an IMAGE , has been accepted also by
the Islam. Thus if you research and look closely at Jewish and Islamic
embroidery , you will see that forming letters was a traditional way
to avoid that. But one doesn`t see many Samplers of letters which is
a more western tradition. Jewish and Islamic Embroidery, tended to
embroider complete or partly Sentences from the scriptures, and or
dedications to persons, either family members or some respected
comunity person.
mirjam