Name Sign - Gabriela

This is my weekend progress on "Gabriela", a name sign I'm stitching for my framer's newborn niece. The color of letters was chosen by her to match those of the baby's bedroom. What’s left to stitch is a little bunny, in the original design the bunny was holding the letter "Q" but I adapted it to hold the "G".

How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically, do you or have you ever used a waste knot?
I've never used the waste knot method. I usually start my thread using the loop method, and to finish it I run the thread under 3 or 4 stitches