I hate doing stitch in the ditch, due to all the turning of the quilt under the machine. Free motion is actually much easier because you don't have to constantly rotate everything. I have a big stack of tops because I was too intimidated to learn to FMQ. Then I started Leah Day's free motion quilt. I don't remember the name of it, but the pattern was around $35 and there are online videos for every step, a video a week for the entire year. I haven't even made it half way through the quilt, but what I did get done gave me the confidence to complete 5 queen size tops on my DM, and now I'm most of the way through my first king size. I was contemplating quitting due to my fear of FMQ but am so glad I tried her way of doing it. Good luck.