I always stitch the sashing down before doing any other quilting...I like a minimum of quilting so I find this helps me decide just how I will quilt the block...I do a lot of QAYG and just find it steadies the whole quilt so you can do FMQ or straight line quilting...I don't actually quilt in the ditch but along side of it. I have a stitch in the ditch foot and when you move the needle to right or left...it keep the lines straight while it follows the ditch...hope that makes sense..