I recently finished this delightful poppy from Needledeeva as part of the labs for the Beginner’s Needlepoint Forum (next year’s session starts in March). I love it and have decided to finish it as a box top.
The box I have is oak so it will look great in my Arts & Crafts style house and will harmonize nicely with the Arts & Crafts-ish style of the canvas.
There is just one tiny problem — the box’ opening is too large. It’s 5×8 and the piece is 4×7, leaving a 1″ margin. So I have to figure out what to do to make it fit.
One possibility is to have a regular mat cut for it. I don’t want to do that because I don’t want to put glass on it. The cut matt will attract both dust and inquiring fingers.
That leaves me with making a stitched “mat” as I did with this article’s canvas. I like that idea but what to do?
Remember mat’s should harmonize with the design in color and style but they should not attract attention. I’m thinking about making a lapped frame, so I don’t have to wrap the stitch around corners, using a matte version of the darkest red. For a stitch I’m thinking of Medieval Mosaic, which I used as the border in this canvas from Tink Boord-Dill.
But I’m open to suggestions. What would you do?
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
JoanneP says
A stitched border sounds good. Will you include a thin inner border, as in your other example? Not sure about the color choice — red may draw the eye away from the flower. How about green?
I hadn’t heard of medieval mosaic — looks like an interesting stitch.
Elise Cotler says
Sorry not to offer a suggestion (!!) but I’ve always wondered how one sees comments? Please advise
Love your articles!
Janet M Perry says
Here’s a link to a diagram of that stitch:
https://nuts-about-needlepoint.com/medieval-mosaic-a-great-stitch/medieval_mosaic/
Keep stitching,
Janet
Janet M Perry says
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Keep stitching,
Janet
Pat says
Because there’s actually only 1/2″ border on each side, a stitched mat may look a little skimpy. Why not follow the curve of the “horizon” and just extend the two greens as far as necessary?
Janet M Perry says
Interesting idea but I can’t do it because the lighter green is an open stitch and so the painted canvas is exposed.
Keep stitching,
Janet