When I stitch in the ditch, I stitch right on top of the seam. The quilting cannot be seen unless I make a mistake.

I "stitched in the ditch" long before I ever quilted. It is a tried and true method of securing things--often facings on clothing, etc. Not sure why it would "cut" the stitches. It makes everything nice and stable.

And the reason we all don't like it, Dina, is 'cuz it's HARD to do accurately! :)

Too funny! I find myself doing that too!

It doesn't need to hold the piecing together. The machine stitching holds the top together without a problem. Think clothes--you don't need to quilt them down in order to keep them from falling apart in the washing machine. (Or at least you shouldn't!)

Any quilting, including SITD, is not meant to hold your piecing together - your piecing stitches should do that. The purpose of quilting is to hold the 3 layers of the quilt sandwich together, in such a way that nothing shifts. (I have, however, used quilting stitches to hold together a vintage quilt that was coming apart at the seams. That's not how it's supposed to work, but in that case it wasn't worth the time to try to fix the real problems - seams that were too narrow, fraying fabric, etc.) Sometimes SITD is done before more intricate stitching, as a means of stabilizing the quilt. It only works when there's a ditch, meaning the seams are pressed to one side, and is especially hard to do if the seams aren't consistently pressed. It's just another technique for the machine quilter to use, and not the easiest, especially on the longarm, but it can be very effective. I found scissor queen's comment about the origins of SITD very interesting, something I hadn't known before, and it totally makes sense.

I took a class from Craftsy where the instructor wanted us to start every project by stitching in "every stinking ditch", her words, not mine, using bottom line tread. Then we would go on to feathers, or other designs that would show. The jury is still out on that one. I'm not convinced it's necessary.

I always aim for the ditch, but never seem to be able to stay in there. My machine sits in front of a window and I guess I'm easily distracted. Like that cartoon dog in the movie Up...Squirrel!!

Necessary or not it's not going to happen here! That is way too much work for this lazy girl.

Well, I didn't mean ALL my stitches are right on top of the seam stitching...:) But most are. I have a nifty SID foot that really really helps.

Dina

It is stitching AWAY from the seam. If it were truly supposed to be IN the seam the SID feet wouldn't have the flange and a set off needle position. It is supposed to emphasize your quilt pattern.