Border, Border, Who’s got the Border?

I love borders or frames on quilts! I’m always looking for some new ideas for my borders. An exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art provided me with a LOT of new ideas for borders. Perhaps I should I say old ideas...really, really old ideas. Some third to fifth century ideas from Syria to be exact.

For those of you wondering what is the oldest use of the diamond is in a square design, I would ask you to consider this mosaic. It might not be the earliest known to humanity, but from the third century it certainly is an early example, with...wait for it...multiple borders. This artist didn’t subscribe to the rule of three.

Borders don’t need to be geometric shapes, they can also be people or animals. Granted some of these borders seem a little complicated to piece...but then what am I complaining about, these are mosaics. The ultimate in piecing designs!