The Girl's Gone Crafty!: Smalls SAL

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Smalls SAL - April 2014 Update

April's Smalls SAL

Today is my very first check-in with the Smalls SAL hosted by Stitching Lotus. I joined earlier this month and had to work quickly to have a finished piece completed by check-in today. I chose to do a small bargello design that I will use in a greeting card. As you may or may not know, I have a small shop on Etsy.com called Calico Craft Designs. I'm trying to decide whether or not to add a few handmade greeting cards to the shop. If I do, I think I'm going to add this bargello design as either a thank you card or a birthday card. Not sure just yet. Any suggestions?

Bargello Example 1

Bargello Example 2

Oh, and just in case you're not familiar with bargello designs, I've added a brief description of this type of embroidery from good ol' Wikipedia. I've also added three photos of bargello work I located through Google. I do not own the right to these three photos and are only using them to represent this beautiful art form. Per the Wikipedia website, "Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello Palace in Florence, which have a 'flame stitch' pattern. Traditionally, Bargello was stitched in wool on canvas. Embroidery done this way is remarkably durable... Traditional designs are very colourful, and use many hues of one colour, which produces intricate shading effects. The patterns are naturally geometric but can also resemble very stylized flowers or fruits."

Bargello Example 3

Now, what I have completed as my Smalls SAL for April is not needlepoint embroidery but is bargello in cross-stitch. I found this particular pattern sample through a web search in Google. I really like it as it reminds me of a pattern you see in Moroccan design and Morocco is definitely a place that I would love to visit one day. I adapted the design just slightly and chose my own colors. It repeats the same pattern every three rows and could be used with 3, 6, or 9 colors. I chose to use six colors in my finished piece. I really enjoyed working on this piece and am looking forward to completing a few more in the future.