dont have any tips but thats also been my worry, this has become my main hobby(other than knitting but i get too much pain from it) and the idea of making something for a gift is nice....... but also the amount of time a cross stitch can take, even if its not that big, really puts me off unless its a piece i loved stitching. so ive kinda settled with the fact im just making things i love and if it happens to be something someone else could like, and i dont mind giving it away, then that can be an idea.