So What Do You Work On First?

I’ve been slowly working away on a piece of cross stitch for the past couple of weeks.  I tend to do an hour or so at a time, and don’t usually rush through projects like this.

Of course, if it was for a gift, I’d be tearing through it, but I enjoy the contemplative nature of hand embroidery.  I’m enjoying the process as much as I’ll enjoy the finished project… hopefully

I’m still working away on the borders right now:

One thing that I’ve noticed about my stitching habits, is that I tend to like to get the “structure” of the piece done before I get to the more decorative stitching.

Is it because I want to get the less interesting stuff out of the way first?

I’m not quite sure, but it’s something that I’ve done since I was a child, just learning to embroider.

So how do you like to structure your embroidery?  Do you like to get into the pattern right away, or do you like to get the borders and less interesting stuff out of the way first?

image: C Findlay-Harder