Karla, it looks just great to me. I start & stop along the edge just as you've described. I don't think there is anything wrong with your sample of stippling. In a machine quilting class I took, she told us that to get your stippling more to "how you want it to look"....just doodle with a pencil on paper frequently. (see...you could even do this in class, or on the phone, etc) She said you have to train your eyes more than you have to train your hands. Keep it up girl, you are doing great!