cat on an unclawed cover

“York Museums Trust Online Collection,” OpenGLAM Open Collections, accessed April 27, 2015, http://opencollections.okfn.org/items/show/123. License CC BY-SA 

Right now I have a crush on the York Museums Trust.  I'm finding the sort of items there I don't normally get to share, such as yesterday's stirrup cup and today's cushion cover - domestic things that a wider variety of people might have.  This cushion cover was cross stitched in wool around 1830-1845 on a linen-lined canvas backing.  The flowers and leaves are so stylized as to almost look like flags to me when first I saw them, but if I had to sit and stitch my own cushions, assuredly the result would be nowhere near as appealing.