Back from the drawing board.  I plan to try this version out tonight.  (Quick and dirty plot, not neatened up for general consumption).

You can see how it is wider, more open, and looser than the last version, below

Both are original compositions, incorporating and adapting motif bits from the main design, but they have very different movement and feeling.

My fellow bungee-jump stitchers, note that I also decided that aside from centering the companion border’s repeat on the midpoint of the established work, I am totally unconcerned with how the longitudinal counts of the two interact.  This border will not end “neatly” at a corner.  I will have to improvise something on the fly when I get there, so Off-the-Cuff Design Fun hasn’t officially ended yet.

I can sense the rising collective gasps of horror from the mass of people who prefer the entire project to be complete and neatly charted  prior to being worked on a basted, gridded ground.  I understand you and respect your ways, but I enjoy the frisson of danger inherent in my method, and accept that picking out is always a a looming possibility.

And for those of you who want to know what I’m using to create these, here’s a link to my tutorial series for using the free drafting program GIMP to set up and work charted designs.  I’m afraid that due to the vagaries of blogging software indexing, the lessons are in reverse order.  Go all the way to the bottom of the page, and start with the entry,
“Squares!”

Stay tuned for results of this experiment.  At the worst, it’s picking out, and back to the drawing board.  Again.

UPDATE

Its a keeper!

Now on to finish out the leftmost repeat, add the one on the right, and add the now-established edging.  Also to noodle out how to treat the corners…  Adventures in needlework, for sure!