I like to use echo quilting in a lot of my quilts, where the line of the quilting echos the shape of the piecework. I use stitch in the ditch occasionally, esp. when I am in a hurry, but I avoid it if I can and stitch beside the seam line instead of in it becuase I have read that it can cut the threads of the seam itself and lead to damage to the quilt top as the quilt is washed.