Need some tips from advanced cross-stitcher

[AiAi]

Hello All,

I am really new in cross-stitching.
I almost finished my second little project (the first one is UFO ),
and will start my Husband's request project soon.

One thing I want to ask to you, when you working on a middle-to-big project,
would you like to do it page-by-page (in spite of too much confetti) or would you like to do it colour-by-colour ?

I used to do it colour-by-colour,
but found it quite difficult to count where the cross should be put when it comes to confetti.
Too much spaces will be found, and often wrong-counted.

Any tips or sharing comment ?

[Natalee]

I'm by no means what-so-ever an advanced cross-stitcher...but you know on the key/legend there's 10x10 darker grid lines...I like to stitch 10x10 squares at a time...Tho I have massive ADHD and it makes me see progress more quickly. Just my two cents.

[Sarah Gixxer]

I always work a page at a time on larger projects. I work out where the first page should be stitched on the fabric, pick one of the main colours and stitch as much as I can within reach. Keep working outwards with the more used colours and fill in the confetti every so often so it's not all left until the end.

It's a good idea to make a working copy of the chart and mark with felt pens as you go, so you know which parts you have stitched. Vital when it comes to the confetti so you don't have to search for them!

[~threadbear~]

I pretty much do the same as Sarah.
It's an easier way to keep track of yourself and you get a real sense of achievement everytime a page gets finished.

[vanessanjf]

I work page by page and I use a colouring pencil to mark off the chart as I stitch it to keep my place

[Rose]

Since the majority(90%) of my projects are worked from the center out I work the colors. I will go until a block of color is done or I have finished a thread and want a different color to work in. As for skipping spacesto follow a color I never go more then 4 spaces if a color is not closer then tha I will finish off and either restart or switch to a different color and fill in the spaces.

I do however make a working copy of the pattern and mark it off as I go with a pencil. i use pencil so if I do make a mistake I can erase the stitches I thought I had stitched properly and start again.

[Pengwenn]

I grid my fabric before I stitch and make sure that my lines go out beyond the area that I'll be stitching (and beyond the edges of the design). This helps me find those confetti stitches on my charter easier when I can narrow it down by 10x10 grid.

[aundria]

I go page by page, but as I get close to the edges, I keep going onto the next page with the color I'm on.

[kerbear879]

Since I started stitching large projects I have to do one page at a time, and then within that page I usually start with the color that has the most stitches on the page and do all of that and then move to the next color..more often than not the confetti tends to get done last before moving to a new page.

[AiAi]

Thank you all, for your comment.

Now I have some hint how to start my project.
Thank you, I never thought to copy the pattern and mark it.
Now, I will try to work it page-by-page.
I must try, right? Before I can select my own style.
Thank you for all responses.

[Ruthi]

I think the answer is to grid all large projects.

My first project was a birth sampler for a friend, and my second was a huge sampler. It was before photocopiers were easily accessible, and I didn't think to go to the library, so I gridded my original chart and worked from that. No-one had mentioned the technique so I had to work it out for myself.

But even if its gridded I would still work page by page.

No-one has mentioned parking, but I suspect that I might try that for confetti.

[purvislets]

I grid one page at a time, then complete one color at a time per page. The gridding on larger projects helps out tremendously! I used to do it without the gridding, but hated having to count and recount spaces only to find I STILL put the stitch in the wrong place.

I have personally tried finishing each 10x10 block one at a time, but hated jumping between colors so often. Now I just work one color until it is finished on the page then move on to the next. When the first page is done I grid the second page and start again.

Basically, there is no right or wrong way. Try a couple different things and see what works best for you!

[stitchingmae]

I grid my fabric then do like Sarah and threadbear!
I think some people use the grid so they can skip, do each square all of one color etc. I use the gridding as more of a guide...like 3 more blue stiches and i should hit a mark...if i do i know i'm okay if i don't then i know that i need to double check my counting..that way i only have to unpick 1o or so stitches right after they happen verses finding myself way off and not knowing where i went wrong.

[Ketta]

I tend to go colour by colour, however I'm often working from my computer monitor which makes this method very easy for me.

When I'm working on big projects where I only have the paper pattern to go from, page by page is definitely the better way to go (for me). Any amount of switching from page to page increases the odds for error, so rather than tempt fate I stick to it that way. I have not tried gridding yet though, and I intend to, as I prefer colour by colour and gridding would make that far more possible when I don't have the option of using my computer monitor.