wow!!!I think that is fantastic, thank you for sharing. I hand stich and I am just a beginner. I think I would like to try that as my next project. I am proud of hand stiching so you need to show your hand stiching on both sides.Use a good thread for hand stiching. For my first one I stiched near the ditch.Traveled under the cross overs.[between layers inthe batting] Just make it enjoyable so you will want to do more. When I machine I get to up tight and don't want to do anymore. So enjoy it.You will be proud of it that is what counts. I am not going to do quanities just love. :thumbup:

kem77 wrote "---(If this has multiple posts, sorry)[/quote]"

Too much coffee? Are you threading your machine while it's running? :-) :-) :-)

LOL - I love this. Even better than the galloping horse idea. Sometimes I get very - um - obsessive when I'm SIDing. I'll try to remember what you've said!

I always aim to hide my stitches in the "ditch." One lady at my LQS told me she does a serpentine stitch which is unique and as she told me, then if you goof it isn't as apparent. I haven't tried it, but I am thinking of trying it on a quilted postcard to see how it looks. SID is my favorite although the more I practice FMQ the more I like it and am starting to feel a little more confident.

My dirty little secret about SID. If I happen to wander outside the seam for a few stitches & it shows, I use a permanent marker of the proper color & touch up the boo-boo stitches.

I use a serpentine stitch that puts a small wiggily on either side of the ditch. It is too hard to stay exactly in the seam.

Oh, you just saved me some time! I have one SID block done (with white stitches showing on the dark green) and 63 to go. I have a nice green magic marker and I am off to the races. I love this board!
Phyllis

Borntohandquilt, your little quilt is gorgeous! Love the idea of a "stitching sampler". I once took a needlepoint class during which we did a sampler plllow cover of stitiches, but I hand't thought of doing the same thing with quilting stitches. Thanks for shaaring.

I use a walking foot when I SID and I recently learned that I need to slightly spread the seam with my hands to be able to get IN the ditch. As soon as I release my hands, the stitch disappears.

If the seam switches sides from block to block (the seam allowance is ironed to the opposite side) I was taught to slightly ease the quilt so the needle can gently move to the opposite ditch. This makes the seam allowance transitions seamless. It really works - I was amazed, because I always used to have these ragged chunky transitions.

I don't think anyone would stitch in the ditch by hand. The point is to hide the ugly machine stitches. You want the pretty hand stitches to show. Instead, hand quilters would stitch 1/4 inch in from the seam.