Newbie needed some advice

[knoxie73]

Hello one and all!
I am quite new to cross stitching and want to be as good as my mum was.
I have completed several tapestry's and have moved onto Cross Stitch. I have bought easy guide and have found this wonderful. But what I am unsure of is the "finishing" stiches, borders and the little touches.
Do you do these as you go along or at the end of the project or is a bit each to their own ? I don't have anyone in the family to ask anymore and just wondered what other people did ?
I was never able to cross sticth but it seems after I lost my mum I have the cross stich power lol I have several projects in place at the minute for Christmas presents and also a poppy one for myself. Any help would be grateful and thanks for taking the time to respond

[rcperryls]

Hi knoxie and welcome to the Forum from South Carolina! I am sorry to hear about your mother. It sounds like she has passed her love of cross stitching to you. One of the great things about cross stitching is that there are very few rules. Each stitcher does what is most comfortable for her or him, especially in deciding what order to stitch. After time, you will discover for yourself what works best for you. Some people like to do all of a border first, others (like myself) prefer to stitch them as they go along. Also, it will depend on the size of a project. The same thing applies to backstitching. Some save it for the very end and others will backstitch after finishing a particular session. You seem to have made a good start on Christmas projects. I hope that you will post pictures of your work (Posting Pictures into a Thread). We love pictures. Please ask any questions you have. Someone will either know the answer or have a good idea of where to find it.

Carole

[lavenderbee]

Hello & welcome from North Wales. Hope you get to enjoy cross stitching as much as your late mother did. I do tapestry & long stitch as well as cross stitch. Also knitting. Hope you get to show us your projects when you have time

[Allyn]

Welcome from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I do the bits -- beads, backstitching, et al -- as I go. As Carole said, it's a personal preference so do what works best for you.

[fccs]

Hello from Colorado and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry for the loss of your mom, but I'm glad she left you the cross stitching power.

I usually do back stitching as I go, and the beading I generally leave for last. How I do borders depends on the design.

I hope you'll stick around and share pictures of your work - and feel free to ask any and all questions you think of. We were all beginners at once and the people here are really very helpful.

[Squirrel]

Hi and Welcome from me too its great to have you along. I am so sorry to read about your loss but how lovely your dear mm left behind her love of cross stitch for you.

[knoxie73]

Wow thank you everybody for all your replies, its really lovely of you all.
Thanks for your advice, I'm going to try various ways I think to see how it goes.
Its really lovely for all the comments about my mum as well, she was a wonderful lady so if I am anything like her I'm very lucky.

I will definitely be posting the finished articals on here as soon as they are done.
Again for the wonderful welcome from you all is amazing and hope to chat to you all again soon.

Shona x