pw6

It does.. that was the only way my Grandmother let anyone quilt her quilts.. I do it often..

jitkaau

I avoid stitch in the ditch. My attempts always look messy to me and so I do free motion which doesn't cause me as much angst. Interesting that there is varied opinion as to what stitch in the ditch is.

CookyIN

Yes. Perhaps this is what the Craftsy definition was aiming for. I learned that the bulky side of the seam could throw your foot off, making you veer out of the ditch. Unfortunately since seams are pressed in opposite directions, at some point I always hit the bulk. Maybe I'm just a bad driver!

twinkie

I just watched a tutorial (Zig Zag table runner by Jenny Doan MSQC) and according to the tute, stitch in the ditch means on the seam. I guess it is a personal preference.

If you have a cabin or cottage, or just a nice cozy home, this precut would be absolutely perfect for a table runner. Jenny’s got several table runner tutorials, click here for a cute and super easy one.

Mitty

I think of SITD as what the goal is, sewing so that the stitching ends up hidden, so aim at whatever part accomplishes that for the individual sewer?

SunlitenSmiles

what Lynnie said

KwiltyKahy

A few years ago, I read that STD is different for hand or machine quilting. That article said that STD for hand quilting is about 1/4" away from the seam and for machine quilting right in the seam.

Deb watkins

I am a true ditch -in the ditch - quilter. Took that term at face value!

maviskw

And did you notice that sometimes she veered off the ditch? She comments about that and her table runner looks beautiful.

joe'smom

But is that the true goal? The goal of any quilting, first and foremost, is to join the three layers of the quilt -- that is, to have the thread go through all three layers. If you stitch right through the piecing seams, you're not going through all three layers of fabric. You're securing the bottom two layers together, but the top layer is just being tacked to the bottom two through the seam threads. You haven't actually stitched through your quilt top fabrics.

I don't intend any offense by saying this. It's just that we all want our quilts to last. The practice of machine stitching through piecing seams in quilting can break your piecing stitches, making them weaker, and it results in the quilt top fabrics not being secured to the bottom two layers. That's why I don't think this is a true example of an area of personal preference or opinion in quilting, but of misinformation being passed along through the years.