Sorry I am not a graphic artist. LOL
What I'm trying to explain is that I always start from the middle out.
I start with (1) (2) (3) (4). Then I do the other rows or columns but
always starting from the middle. I try not to follow this pattern by quadrant
then go the other way.

Thanks! This is really helpful! I've printed it out and it's going into my quilting file for reference :)

I'm working on a Christmas quilt and I'm supposed to SID for the xmas trees in the middle of the quilt. Will what you've described still work? ie start and end with small stitches.

I always feel iffy about using contrasting thread for the top. My top has colours consisting of cream, red and green and my backing fabric is red. Would u suggest that I use cream thread for the bobbin and top? But the cream would be a great contrast against the red backing. Hmmm....preference is to use cream for the top and red for bobbin, but I'll run into the thread tension problem as described above.

I don't have any problem doing SITD. My pfaff has the built in walking foot, one of the best features of this machine. I have had it since 1986 and love it. I,m not sure about the SITD foot, I,m going to check into it.

As far as I know SID works well for long straight lines. SID around the trees
might work for a pot holder, wall-hanging or baby quilt but for a larger quilt,
think how you are going to turn at every corner. That's the tricky part. ;)

Some Machine manufactures have come up with a walking foot with the stitch in the ditch foot on it. It is a great tool for this , but at the high cost of the walking foot , it is tough to swallow another high priced foot.

Yes guess that will be the perfect solution. I'm not sure if there's one avail for Janome but I'll call the distributor tomorrow to check. I'm getting all tensed up due to this problem as this is going to be my first time trying out MQ, and I'm so worried my quilt will be damaged! :(