I started with stitching in the ditch on my grandaughters quilts and I can tell you she never complained that they weren't perfect and she still has them all. I do have to say that I have really improved in the last 15 years but if they are large I would still send them out to have them done. They are too heavy for me. But you do what you are comfortable with. They don't have to be perfect unless you are entering them in a quilt show......where there are "quilt police"