Thanks everyone for all your responses. This has puzzled me for a long time. I think one could do the cross hatching first if you traced where applique will go and then stitch just a few stitches beyond that mark. Sewlo, your method of back-stitching 2 stitches when you stop works very well for you. I looked closely at your english pieced quilt and could NOT see any back-stitching! I'm not sure I'd have that same great result. This is just one reason 90% of all my quilts get meandered. I like matching thread to each color vs having white thread crossing red or vs. versa.