carolaug

No...I have no problems doing SID with the batting next to the feeddogs. I do have a walkingfoot or what ever that is called on the 7700. it works really well. I have the warm and natural at the bottom.

quiltmom04

I've been FMQing for many years and I stitch in the ditch ONLY if my final quilting design indicates it. I don't do it to stabilize anything. I spray, then pin and that seems to be adequate.

mustangquilts

I always stitch in the ditch first. One it helps to stabilize the quilt but most important it makes the finished quilt look so much prettier and makes piecing pop. I have always done this and Cindy Needhams class reinforced my belief.

debbiemarie

I am sort of a newbie at FMQ I have stitched in the ditch all over, or FMQ especially if you have used 505 I wouldn't do both, waste of time and thread.

quilterpurpledog

This is really an interesting thread and so many opinions. I always stabilize my quilts by stitching longwise and widthwise along the seams around the blocks, then I go back and quilt each block 'as desired'. I like to do this so I can hold each square firmly square as I quilt it. I usually quilt the outside squares first and then sew my binding on and trim all of excess off. Because each of the blocks will not shift I am not concerned about starting from the center out. I do STID with bottom line thread on top and something that matches the back in the bobbin. If I were doing an all over pattern I would use the wash away thread top and bottom. However, I can see that there are other avenues of success. BTW I use Elmer's with great success. I never use pins anymore-mostly they are an annoyance and add lots of bulk to the quilt when quilting. This post certainly had lots of perspectives and food for thought.

Suz

I agree with MQ2. Stitch-in-the-ditch (SID) in long rows between each individual block in both directions. You may use water soluble thread if you want to remove these stitches later.

carolaug

Well...I have been working on this all day...Stitched ESS then small loops all over the inch blocks, stipple the sides...I still have the intersashing to do...and the out side border..I am exhasted...done for the night...I think it coming out really good. Wish I was better with the feathers. I may do them on the outside border since its dark brown. Not tonight though.

oldtisme

I'm still learning to quilt on my DM, right now I spray baste and pin because with all the rolling up or folding up, doing the accordion thing I'm finding that the spray baste comes apart in places so the safety pins are great for my back up just in case.

sewbizgirl

I never do it unless I wanted it to be part of my quilting pattern.

Anne P

Very interesting thread! I am in the tedious process of "unquilting" a rather large throw on which I had do STID along all the sashing and the inside border. Started in the center, but evidently I didn't pull the top flat enough because as I did the FMQing in the blocks, I got poofs and puckers but since the borders were already stitched, I couldn't flatten the blocks. The design is such that I'm FMQing the center of the blocks and will go back to do the corners later. That's where the poofiing shows and eventually I became aware of it, after having done more than half of the blocks! I haven't tried the basting spray yet, but may after I get this on all "unquilted". My thought now is to pin the quilt center block, nice and flat, then do the sashing right next to the block, then move to an adjacent block, and repeat the process. This is the largest quilt I've done so I'm leaning about this part as I go. Heretofore, I've done baby quilts, placemats, and small wall hangings. Ah, the joy of learning from mistakes - nothing like it!