thank you all for the compliments. i do use the crow foot tacking a lot on most of the very simple blocks. it seems to work best on those blocks that are not very intricately pieced. just sort of sets them off. also i don't have to mark to do this tacking like with the hand quilting designs. all in all it is the least complicated process to get that quilt finished. and boy does it feel good to have one less ufo. lol