Vintage Four-way Bargello

The design is from Josephine Payne and is done in five (yes, five) colors of Persian wool. Like Donna, I look at it and think, “I can’t see well enough to stitch that these days.” But I just love it.

I like how it uses Bargello in so many ways. First off there is the lovely central star. Then there is the traditional Bargello border. But it’s a border with a twist. They are the light partial star “interruptions,” which effectively take your mind off the fact that that “traditional” border” actually is four-way as well. You can tell that immediately because the zig-zags are parallel to the pillow’s sides. You can also see the squarish peaks which are formed at the mitered corners, but instead of being obvious, which is often the case, they are subtle, being caught between two stars.

I also love the stars at the corners. Look at them again. When I first looked at them, I thought they were partial stars with one long point missing. But they aren’t, the whole star is there. But the inside point is missing the dark round which defines the other points and it doesn’t have the squared off background which forms the corner block.

This is such a cool and instructive piece. Thanks to Donna for sharing it with us.

About Janet M Perry

Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family

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