Originally Posted by KLO
FMQ = Free Motion Quilting. Someone may have already mentioned this but I was told that on the stops and starts, take a stitch or two in the same spot where you stopped and then start moving the quilt rather than trying to move as you start again. That has helped me. Also, recently we had a local accomplished quilter speak at our guild meeting and he mentioned that it is harder to do stitch-in-the-ditch than fmq because you have to get those stitches exactly in the "ditch" for it to look good. I suppose all of it takes practice just like learning to play a musical instrument.
Taking a couple of stitches in the same place where you stopped before starting to move again is what I found works for me also. I still get points but I've also had a couple of times when you can't even tell I started there again.