I struggle with machine quilting and usually do some diagonal straight line quilting about two inches apart. My favorite quilting is by hand, but it takes a long time to finish. It is difficult for me to handle the bulk of the quilt in my Bernina machine. I have a Bernina stitch regulator and use that for small projects but can't seem to handle a large quilt. Just as someone above said, the closer the stitch lines are, the stiffer the quilt. It also depends on the look you want. I like the old fashioned "crinkled" look and I can get that using the warm and natural cotton batting. I even hand quilted one using a stencil of meandering lines. Good Luck