I thought that the cardinal rule in x-stitching was that the stitches all had to be crossed in the same direction.
I attended and paid for lessons once - what a joke. The woman sounded much like the online "instructor" mentioned. I got so angry because ladies totally new to the craft were there and why teach them something that they later have to unlearn. I sort of took over until my daughter intervened.
My work is a long shot from perfect but I try to do the best I can and having my stitches going every which way is not my idea of stitching but creating a big mess. Whenever possibly I try to weave the ends in vertically, they show less that way. I am not opposed to the horizontal way when the back is covered but in the front????????
I was very interested in HGTV at one time and noticed what sloppy work the people turned out on those low cost make overs. That's when I decided to no longer watch. It makes me angry. Sorry, I had to vent on that one.