Melitastitches4fun's Blog

It took about 2 months to get back to finishing the other 2 Bargello ornaments from Hearts of Gold by Michele Roberts (an ANG Correspondence Course). It’s available under Distance Learning on ANG ‘s website. Michele’s are all done using only 4 gold threads so they are all color coordinated. Mine are all different colorways for seasonal display. Tedious work but I completed the finishing on them! This time I used a binding stitch.

I had pulled out my Kreinik Custom Corder. It’s loose but ok for the hanger. Since my threads were already cut, they weren’t long enough to go around the whole heart. Step 1 is to interlock the 2 threads. Step 2 is wind. Maybe I didn’t twist enough?

Step 3 is to remove from cord maker, bring both ends together, and allow them to twist together. It was tighter initially but then loosened during that process. Since even 2 lengths weren’t working, I abandoned the cord maker.

There was still a decent gap between the back and front due to a 5 mm soft foam core that I used. So, I went with a “binding” stitch and it took way longer than I am sure a professional finisher would take to do it. Bending the monocanvas back results in a less than desirable rounded shape. But, that stitch covered the gap and turned it back into a smooth heart shape. I prefer stitching over finishing but am happy with these.

Hearts of Gold is an excellent ANG Correspondence Course that includes 20 Heart-Shaped Bargello Ornaments by Michele Roberts. It’s available under Distance Learning on ANG ‘s website.

Michele describes this heart as a “classic tiny pattern” of shadowed boxes. The stitches are all over 2 canvas threads. It can be stitched in as few as 2 colors and as many as 7 colors. I love the 3 dimensional effect with this pattern.

To say “spring”, I selected a rainbow of Silk & Ivory threads including yellow=maize 241, orange=clementine 215, red=tamale 199, dark purple=sugarplum 117, blue=delphinium 70, green=lime 56, and light purple=shrinking violet 116.

Hearts of Gold is an excellent ANG Correspondence Course that include 20 Heart-Shaped Bargello Ornaments by Michele Roberts. It’s available under Distance Learning on ANG ‘s website. Michele’s are all done in golds but I wanted seasonal hearts.

I began my first heart with the Greek Meander Bargello pattern which is best worked in two colors. Mine is done in green and white (Silk & Ivory in 86 Shamrock and 01 Natural) for St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas.

The over 6 stitch is tricky because it falls in a different place with each color. The two colors fold into each other. Once I got to the first full row of white I started seeing the rhythm. Michele diagrammed the whole heart including compensation although it didn’t quite match mine because I tweaked the top center a tad to make the dip in the center deeper.

Back in March of 2020, ANG Cyberpointers offered Hearts of Gold: 20 Bargello Ornaments by Michele Roberts as a group Correspondence Course. It’s still available for individuals to sign up for. I didn’t get to it until now. Thanks to my ANG New Jersey Needle Artists chapter who has 42 of 53 members working on a bargello project, I plan on stitching 4 of them in the next couple of months. Five members are working on my Bargello Bowls!

The heart ornaments are not only great designs but Michele Roberts teaches classic techniques of stitching Bargello and combining different patterns.

I backstitched the heart shape with Londonderry Linen LNS #8085 Beige 80/3. It’s almost the same color as the sandstone canvas. The extra dip I added in the upper center portion defines the heart a little more. These are little hearts at 3″ x 3″.

The golds would be pretty but I want to have “seasonal” hearts. Green and white for St. Patrick’s Day, red and white for our Phillies and Valentine’s Day, multi-color for spring, and magenta for other times.

Since this project should have started in March, I will start with the green and white threads, Silk & Ivory in 86 Shamrock and 01 Natural.