One Border Complete

This rug has a series of different borders, and I have now completed the first one. 
I found it a bit of a challenge because I wanted to stitch the pale background stitches first so that my dark colors didn't show through. The challenge came when I had stitched several rows, leaving spaces where the motifs or blue line were to go, and I began to lose track of where I was in the pattern.  I knew I could not continue this way or I would be making some major mistakes.  I decided to stitch in the motifs that I had already left space for and "park" the threads to the side when I reached the end of the pale background I had already stitched.  This made my progress stand out very well and I was then easily able to figure out where I was

in the pattern.  With my threads parked, I could easily pick one up, thread it into my needle, and continue with the next motif in that color once I had stitched more of the background. In the photo on the right, you can see a few of my threads that have been parked off to the side.  I try to put them in a place where I will not be stitching so that I don't accidentally stitch over them. I do sometimes have to move them before I am ready to use them again, but that isn't very often.
​As I worked my way around the border, I stitched enough of the pale background to outline 1 of the motifs and one green line, then filled in the blank areas with the correct colors. I also continued the blue line around the outside.  After I decided to stitch in this fashion, the border went quickly and smoothly.  I was also able to determine very quickly if I had made a mistake and fix it before I stitched any other colors around it.
​Now, I will be starting the next border, which has a dark background, so I can stitch the motifs first and not have to worry that my threads will show through the background if I carry threads across from one motif to another.