whats the fastest way to cross stitch?

Answer 1

There IS no "fast way" to cross stitch.
By it's very nature ... one stitch at a time ... it is a slow and time-consuming craft.
That said, there are some tricks:
1) In areas of one colour, instead of doing one complete stitch ( x ), do a line of /'s then come back crossing them \ .
2) Whenever you use 2 or 4 threads to cross stitch (I use two even when it calls for three - on 14 ct) when starting the thread, do a larks head knot on the first stitch
3) Some patterns can be outlined or simplified if you really have to get something done by a certain time .. will affect the end result .. but sometimes can be quite appealing ...
4) Some backgrounds, or other large blocks of colour, can be done in other techniques that aren't cross stitches over every thread .... like using half crosses instead of full crosses, crossing over several threads, decorative stitching, drawn thread stitching.
Again, the end result will be different than the pattern, but often attractively so.

Answer 2

There is no fast way to do cross-stitch. It's just one of those things that takes time and patience. All of the suggestions made above are good but there's no fast way to do it.

Answer 3

You can speed up your stitching a little by using the "scoop" method of stitching instead of the stab method - if you do not use a hoop. Learn more about the two techniques at this link

http://crossstitch.about.com/od/learnhowtocrossstitch/a/stabsew.htm

Answer 4

In addition to what was said above, I usually try to do all of one color at once, so that I don't have to switch back and forth between colors.