Robes de Coeur
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About

Bargello (re-think)

1/23/2023

2 Comments

 
Remember the Hunter's Star quilt I started for my sister last October? 

NO MORE HUNTER'S STAR

The more I look at it, the less I like it.  I hang it up out of sight to give myself some space from the project (working on my Memories of Africa quilt is a creative balm!), and when I return over a month later, I recognize
  1. the sage sprig is too gentle for the spikes of the star, and
  2. the contrast between the colors is not high enough for the Hunter's Star, and not low enough to flatter the sage sprig!
Picture
A new pattern is required.  And quite accidentally, I find it through a merry link trail on Reddit! 

BARGELLO

Picture
Purse (USA) with flame stitch embroidery, 18th century. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Picture
Marbled paper by Rosamond B. Loring, 1933. Peabody-Essex Museum
"Bargello" refers to palace in Italy which has some cushioned chairs covered in a counted needlepoint style also known in English as Florentine work or flame stitch.  In Italian, the palace is pronounced like "bar jello", but with a rolled-R, but the needlepoint style is called Hungarian stitch!  In English, as if to fancy it up and make it sound more foreign, bargello is sometimes said with a G like the S in "pleasure". 

Bargello needlepoint reminds me of marbled papers, such as were used in the cover-pages of old handmade books.  And that reminds me of Italy, which reminds me of my sister, who loves Italy. 

Donna of Jordan's Fabrics (whose videos are consistently well-made and informative) not only has a free Bargello quilt pattern, she also has a tutorial video on YouTube showing the whole process!  So, for once in my life, I decide to make my life easy and follow a pattern. 

COLORS

The Sage Sprig my sister picked out back in October, claiming it was "soothing", is the color to build off of.  I start looking around and seeing it everywhere! 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
(The Portland Building, downtown PDX, is photographed with my phone camera during my morning commute.)
It looks nice paired with shades of pink, mauve, and dark green-blue.  I go online and into my fabric stash to build a few palettes:
Picture
Colors from my and my housemate's stash
Picture
One of many online palette generators.
Picture
My sister's selections for the accents, circled.

BUYING FABRIC

In the end, despite my original idea to use stash fabric, I need to buy new yardage to go with the sage sprig.  Well, another trip to Pioneer Quilts!  (I love this store!)  My housemate takes me there and she and Beth (saleswoman) help me run all over the place picking just the right shades and saturations to match my vision: the dark green and bright pink to be the focal point, with gentle gradations of pale pink and green for the gaze to nestle in:
Picture
(The sage sprig is 5th from the left. It's a hard color to photograph: in person quite subtle and pretty, but in pictures washed out and gray.)
The pinks I choose for their soft color, and avoid anything too frou-frou.  The pale blue is an oddball, but it seems to work, and nothing else did.  The green with cross-hatching looks like the oddball in the photo, but in person plays nicely with the sage sprig.  The one with ribbony scribbles makes me think of my sister's calligraphy, and the dark green-blue and pink are just perfect! 

I buy 1.125 yards of each, and heed Beth's advice about making afterquilts (to be sure to press, square-off, and pay attention to grain with the afterquilt, just as with the top quilt, so it won't cause trouble at the long-armer's). 

So now I am ready to get going, as soon as my sewing machine Boudica returns from the shop (regular maintenance needed, and the acquisition of a new foot pedal, since the cats chewed the cord of the old one).
2 Comments
MOIRE YUE
1/27/2023 11:34:29 am

hi! i do still read your blog...sometimes :D

Reply
The Sister
2/4/2023 03:03:46 pm

Ah yes, I’m excited to read the updates on this one! Such soft and gentle colors you’ve chosen. ☺️

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Karen Roy

    Quilting, dressmaking, and history plied with the needle...

    Categories

    All
    1910's
    Alteration
    Antique
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    General
    Hand Sewing
    History
    Lacemaking
    Mending
    Menswear
    Millinery
    Modern Elizabethan
    Musing
    Other Sewing
    Philippians 4:8
    Project Diary
    Quilting
    Regency
    Retro
    Self Made Pattern
    Self-made Pattern
    Terminology
    Victorian
    Vintage

    Blogs I Read

    The Dreamstress
    Male Pattern Boldness
    ​
    Lilacs & Lace
    Tom of Holland
    Fit for a Queen
    Line of Selvage
    Mainely Menswear
    Bernadette Banner

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    RSS Feed

Blog

Quilting

Clothing

About

Copyright Karen Roy
​© 2017-2022