Good Morning!
I have my first D9P sandwiched and would like opinions on best way to machine quilt. Stitch in the Ditch, stippling???? This will be my first on machine quilting, have practiced a bit in classes a while back and have forgotten most of what I learned...:( When using the walking foot and going diagonal and such do you start in the middle of the quilt or up top? If doing SID do you start in the middle? And would you use walking foot or fmq foot? Thank you for your advice!

thank you so much for asking this question. I am just at this point myself with my first top. I would value any advice - I had thought of trying to hand quilt mine but an not very proficent yet and have quite sever arthritis in my hands but at the same time, like you, I am unsure about how to go about machine quilting it.

Stippling would be FMQ and would use the foot for that.

SID is generally a walking foot but some people have good luck with zipper feet or special SID feet. Personally, my SID is never actually IN the ditch. I tend to always be off a bit. I drive the sewing machine like I'm drunk as soon as I try SID!

You will get many answers regarding where to start. I think most people start in the middle to push any fullness toward the edges, but some people start from one side. I start at the middle in hopes of getting fewer puckers.

It's all kind of a learning process. Listen to all the advice and then give it a go. What works for one person beautifully may not be what you want to do.

If you are going to stipple, that will be FMQ and require feed dogs down and the darning foot.

If you are going to stitch in the ditch, it'll be a walking foot.

No matter which way you decide to quilt it, it is best if you start in the middle and work your way out.

What I have done on some D9Ps is SID around the whole D9P block creating a little grid on the back, then I went back over it with the darning foot and stippled and doodled in one block at a time. It was pretty fun.

Along with all the other advice I have one hint. I do alot of stitch in the ditch for donation quilts. Remember to turn your quilt around at the end of a row and stitch back the opposite direction for your next row. Just like sewing strips together, it will lay better for you. Just my two cents worth. :)

It seems to me that you need the walking foot any time you are sewing straight rows. If the stitching is curved then you need to lower the feed dogs and use the quilting/darning foot. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sue

Very well stated...great advise!

It depends on your machine. I need the walking foot to SITD with my Elna, but not my Singer 301. With the 301, I just released the pressure on the presser foot a little and used my SITD foot. That little thing is a big help. I do start in the center. I only did SITD on my D9P, but I just did another pattern and mixed SITD and FMQ, which I like.

straight lines (stitch in the ditch/ cross hatch ect) use a walking foot- feed dogs up--
free motion quilting (stippling meandering, ect) use a free motion (darning) foot- feed dogs down

Ditto!