Needlework WiP: "VS 4 Elements: Fire" - Band 16

LAST band on my Victoria Sampler's "Four Elements:Fire" sampler.

The bottom focus band on these four little samplers is Bargello (aka Florentine work aka Irish Stitch).  It's a variation on satin stitch for counted thread work that moves up and down a set number of intersections in the ground fabric with each stitch.   This version is the very classic "Flame" pattern that makes interlocking lozenge shapes.   Several different threads give it a lot of texture close up, which is very effective in this application, though not traditional.   A few beads and some straight stitches in metallic gold suggest sparks flying up from leaping flames.

Traditionally, this technique is worked in various colors of one thread type, which gives a dense, even surface to the work.  If it's done in the classic 'upholstery' method of work, there's as much thread on the back as on the front.  When it's used AS upholstery fabric, in needlepoint wools, all that padding helps protect the fabric from wear.