Now that I know what SITD is. What is FMQ?

FMQ is Free Motion Quilting.

Definitely not a SID expert, but find that any sewing machine quilting (don't have a long arm :-< ) is made 100% easier/better by using my Machinger gloves. Plus, they save hand fatigue!

Until you get a SID foot, might try a narrow zipper foot - the kind that rides on the outside of the zipper - that will give you good visibity for your seam and let the foot ride to one side of your seam. Good luck, have fun!

Love this forum!!

Great Idea!! Hadn't thought of that - I don't have a walking foot for my Singer (but I do for my Bernina!). When the Bernina's embroidering I'm planning on working with the Singer - now I can SITD with that one a lot easier than with a regular foot. Thanks for the tip!

Learned a lot (but not enough!) from my grandmother whose only machine ever was a treadle and my mother who tailored beautiful garments on nothing but a Featherweight.

Both of their machines live in my sewing room with hopes their skills will pass to me. Maybe someday!

That zipper foot idea works really well when using SID to finish a machine binding.

Two great ideas I'd not thought of. I'll be sandwiching my quilt in the next couple of days, so I'll try the zipper foot for my machine and give SID another go.

Thank you

If you have pressed your seam allowance to one side, the ditch will be as close as possible to the seam on the side that DOES NOT have the seam allowances. Use a thread that blends with the "ditch" side not the other side. If your stitching jumps to the side with the seam allowances, you'll see it right away as it looks like topstitching.

I have seen some quilts done with the stitched zig zag, lengthened out so that it becomes a wavy line. It works great on baby quilts that get laundered regularly.

I use my open toe embroidery foot on my Pfaff 2030, and try to stay on the "low side" of the seam, that is not the side with the seam allowance. Like anything else, practice, practice! I'm actually pretty good at it now, after about 10 years of practice...lol. I also do alot of quilting on the diagonal with blue painters tape, you stitch along the side, but not on the tape...takes tweesers to remove stitched on tape.

Sue

Thank You everyone for the great advice. It is amazing the amount of knowledge that can be found on these threads. I have learned a lot even before I joined, before I just to read the comments.
Thanks again.
Carrie