Adaptable Needlepoint Border – Free Project

I love this week’s border, which you see in two formats.

Not only is it very easy to stitch, you can:

• use any threads you like, although a metallic for the lines creates a lovely accent)
• fit any size needlepoint without needing to count
• fill in the sides or leave them empty
• make it as wide as you like
• add overhangs to the corner motifs
• stitch it all in Tent or use Tent with textured stitches

The border has a very geometric look that also plays nicely with designs that are Art & Crafts, Art Deco, or Art Nouveau (think Charles Rennie Mackintosh).

You see the two borders making the square on the left in the lower border sampler pictured at the top of the post. The two borders by themselves are pictured below.

The stitches I used in my two borders were:

• metallic
• overdye
• main accent color

In this border make your decisions about overhang and number of rows first. Based on these decisions stitch one corner set of squares first using your line thread, metallic here, to outline the squares. Once the squares are stitched, extend the lines to the opposite edge of the piece, stopping the same number of threads from the edge as the original square.

in the sampler the border starts four threads below the previous border and extends about 40% across the sampler.

Make the squares at these corners. Repeat extending the lines and making the squares for the final corner. The outline of a three-row corner with extensions is diagrammed below.

Once the outlines have been made, fill corners with Scotch Stitch, below.

If desired fill the sides with Diagonal Gobelin, below.

The filled border, upper left, has three lines. The open border, lower right, has two lines.

Come back next week for another great border!