It hasn’t taken me quite as long as it might seem to complete stitching this piece – lack of time aside, I have also been battling with an ailing scanner/printer. Bless it’s little cotton socks, I managed to sweet-talk it into working for long enough to scan in my updated Oak Leaf Panel (but it is still being temperamental). Anyway…:
My original plan was to stitch a decorative border around the outer edge. However, I decided that as there was already quite a lot of movement in both the motif and the background that might make it all look a little too busy. So I opted for simplicity, instead, and I think this plain border provides a good contrast to the myriad curves contained within it.
(I do like the oak leaf border (not shown), though, and may include the chart within the kit as an optional extra, to be added or not at the discretion of the stitcher. It could also be stitched as a bookmark, which I may do myself at some point.)
The sense of undulation in the freeform bargello background reminds me of fabrics from the 60 and 70s; but I think the heightened sense of movement is also a result of using overdyed threads with tonal changes along their length, but without dramatic tonal difference between the three different threads used. I normally make my bargello choices in a more pronounced light-to-dark colour scheme, but I like the slightly different effect my alternative choice has created.
The intention is that this will be the first of a series, exploring the different patterns created by different shaped leaves (etc).
tanglecrafts.wordpress.com 
Mechanical devices have minds of their own, and are generally smarter than I am. This is a wonderful piece – I love the leaves and acorns!! good job.
Very, very nice, I love oak leaves and acorns especially this time of year! Isn’t Bargello amazing and it goes so quickly you can hardly believe it would be so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your work. Madonna
I love this oak leaf design. How can I get the pattern?
Hi there – thanks for your comment & apologies for the lengthy delay in response! I’m afraid I no longer have the chart for this particular pattern due to computer issues several years ago. I have made e-charts available for 2 of my other 4-way bargello patterns, though, if that is any use…? Click here for further info.