Cross country

[motherof4]

For those of you who stitch cross country, how do you decide which colour to use 1st ? Do you stitch by the colour of the 1st stitch, the colour that has most coverage, the colour with the least coverage or some other way. Also do you work 10x10, 20x20, more or page x page ?

[fccs]

I wish I could say I have a plan when I start, but I really don't. If I start in the center of my design (which I usually do), I'll start with whatever color that happens to be. From that point on, I sometimes choose a color by what makes sense in the stitching scheme and sometimes I choose the color because I like it. I know, no help, right?

[richardandtracy]

I usually start by choosing the colour in the area I'm doing that has the highest number of colours. Doing 28ct, a thread pair will do up to 150 stitches, so I tend to choose the colour that will provide that number in the area. It also provides a backbone reference for later colours - meaning they are either all correctly or all incorrectly positioned.

Regards

Richard.

[DisneyStitcher]

If I'm starting from the middle, I count over to the biggest block of color and start there so I have a good block of stitching to anchor all the rest of the stitching as I branch out. If there is a good block of color around the top left of the piece, I'll sometimes start there as well and the work over and down. If there aren't any big swatches of color, I try to start with a recognizable landmark that will be easy to count from. It always boils down to personal preference and what makes following the pattern easiest for you. Happy Stitching!

[Rosheen]

I usually start top left. I choose one of the darkest colors in that area (for light fabric) and vice versa. If possible, I work a color till end of the thread and then start a new color. It kinda depends on the quantity of stitches of the same color.
I definitely end one page before I start another and don't work strictly in blocks.
Am I making sense?

[Squirrel]

I find myself starting in the top right mostly and I just start with whatever colour that is unless it is only 2 or 3 stitches then I move to the nearest block of colour and work on from there.

I guess it is just whatever is most natural to you to do which dictates where you start.

[CuriousKitty]

Cross-County Stitching is what I do basically exclusively when I stitch. It's very organic way and I feel it keeps my pieces very neat and tidy in the back. I like to thread my loose ends under the same color, keeping colors from bleeding from carrying through in the back. When I find the middle, I start with the first color there, depending on how far the reach- I'll count up to the top and start it traditionally and work my way top to bottom, left to right on color, unless there's a random branch going off, then I'll half-stitch down the "branch" and complete the cross on the way back up in order to avoid carrying.

I pick the next color based on what's physically next; for instance right now on my ABC blanket- it's basically a rule of thumb that every single letter is confetti-like. So it's pretty annoying to try and finish one color at a time. I did try something new this time on "N" and parked my green threads on the leaves/vines and worked them through each other (tucking underneath the color going down to reach the next section of the first color). I've outlined in blue where I did this, because my leaves are all identical in order (light green on top, middle color, then darkest on bottom for shading), and it's wasteful to keep cutting the thread, I tucked it under the stem area, creating a neat little section to tuck loose ends from any thread, and to carry the next color down.

I suppose if I ever do an edge-to-edge project, I may try parking, but I'm not sure my brain would ever break out of the more organic habit. =) And I'm happy to say I'll finish N tonight- I'm on the last bit of back-stitching 8D

[wendywombat]

I wish I could say I have a plan when I start, but I really don't. If I start in the center of my design (which I usually do), I'll start with whatever color that happens to be. From that point on, I sometimes choose a color by what makes sense in the stitching scheme and sometimes I choose the color because I like it. I know, no help, right?

That's exactly as I do it, but sometimes I start at the top/middle and work down....I seem to have a problem with working upwards! I lose my ability to count!

[motherof4]

Thank you all for your replies.

[motherof4]

Thank you all for your replies.

[rcperryls]

Interesting to see how similar and different us cross country stitchers are. I almost always start in the top left corner. Since the vast majority of my projects are HAED designs, its full coverage edge to edge. How I choose which color probably varies on my mood. I will look often look at a section and determine as well as I can, the color with the fewest stitches and start from there, leaving the larger blocks till the end so that as I stitch those they will cover the thread in the back which has been carried (I will carry a thread about 10 squares, but have been known to go further ). I will continue a color onto the next page to the right or down, especially if it is only a few stitches. But, if I'm watching something that requires more concentration, I'll go start to the large blocks of color and stitch those. Or I'll pick a color I want to stitch or complete a section so I can see if it looks like it is supposed to look. So I guess what I'm saying is I don't have much of a system either.

Carole