On my Bernina's the normal straight stitch for utility stitching is 2.5, but if I chose the straight stitch in the "quilting menu", it is 2.0. Sometimes if I am stitching small pieces I will crank the stitch length down to 1.8 or even smaller. I also like to chain stitch when I can and then I cut the middle of the "chain" so I leave a short bit of extra stitches from the chain on the edge of the fabric. Once I start stitching rows together I will backstitch a bit when I start and end the rows as the weight of the growing quilt will pull on the seams. And I usually will edge stitch about 1/8 of inch around the whole quilt before loading onto the longarm to help keep the seams together. Sometimes if I make large blocks with a lot of pieces, I will edge stitch this way around those blocks too. Oh, and I want to add, that some brands of machines seem to lock the seams in better than others, this maybe because of the tension set too, I don't really know.