I had a lot of fun with a recent Stitch Concept (that will be posted on the web site very soon) because I was bound and determined to find unique things to do in the too many to count bands and borders (wide and not always very tall) that wasn’t a Satin Stitch. I think I did better than all right.

Starting clockwise from upper left, we have a border six rows tall (Large Diamond Composite), seven rows tall (Split Offset Stripes), and three rows tall (Herringbone over 3), and the ubiquitous stitched samples. The stitched samples are (from the top) over six, seven, and three rows (at the bottom). The over six sample uses Petite Silk Lame (black lines) and Needlepoint Inc Silk Floss (aqua liens). The center stitched sample uses two shades of Petite Sparkle Rays. The bottom stitched sample uses Neon Rays. (All are from the same project on 18-mesh).

All of these stitches are scaleable, though the diamond stitch will work best on borders with an even-numbered height. The student was really happy with the Neon Rays for the Herringbone because it was so smooth and filled the area well. My personal favorite was the offset stripes. It mimicked the canvas painting (always a win) but what I really liked about it was the contrasting colors. I would do this again the minute an opportunity presents itself.

These stitch diagrams, along with all other #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams, can also be found on a Pinterest board here.

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If you like what you see on this blog, want to learn some very creative decorative stitches, and how to put them all together, whimsicalstitch.com has a book for you! Mary’s Whimsical Stitches is a contemporary how-to collection of more than 250 stitches for stitchers regardless of skill level. The book includes updated and sequenced diagrams from this blog, all-new stitches, and a chapter on the basics of needlepoint. For more information, visit here.

whimsicalstitch.com also sells Stitch Guides and Stitch Concepts for Melissa Shirley Designs, Zecca Designs, Sandra Gilmore, Purple Palm, Maggie, and Penny MacLeod, and many more. Click here to see the newest guides and click here to see the entire collection.

I hope you have the perfect spot for this stitch! Please enjoy! Have a wonderful #whimsicalwednesday!

A Note about Diagrams
I use color in diagrams to make them as clear as possible.  The primary function of different colored lines is to illustrate a stitch sequence.  For example, layering of colors demonstrates you add them in that order.  They can also provide ideas on how to integrate additional threads (one line for each color).  Or, you can use the same thread for all color lines.  That's where I encourage you to use your imagination for the space you are stitching!