Roxanne McElroy, in her book That Perfect Stitch, recommends a method of backstitch to avoid the uneven stitching lines you can get from using the stab method. It is kind of hard to describe, but I will try: Bring your needle up through the layers twice the distance you usually would and then back stitch half that distance and bring it back down through the layers coming out on the bottom where you would have anyway. Your stitching thread is then forming an X in the batting, instead of a S. Does that make any sense?