Vintage Four-way Bargello
My friend Donna featured this lovely Four-way Bargello piece on her blog recently.
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.
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Thanks Janet for your expert notations on this piece. I am totally impressed with the things you noticed from just a photograph. As usual you are an expert in your field! Many thanks for writing about it on your blog. Madonna
Where can I get the pattern by Josephine Payne for Emperor’s Garden Four way bargello?
Thanks
I’m not sure if this piece is in there, but several of her patterns are in Bagello Star, Shells, and Borders, published by the University of Georgia Press in 1995. I’d check for you but my copy is packed away and in a PODS 30 miles away.
Keep Stitching,
Janet