Ellen Miller and Margaret Whiting of Deerfield, Massachusetts, created the designs for the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework and then gave the pattern, threads, and linen to women in town to create. The work was carefully monitored and only when a completed piece of embroidery met with the approval of Miller or Whiting could the society’s trademark, a “D” within a flax wheel, be stitched on.