Quilting in the Ditch??????
 

When you quilt in the ditch by machine, do you quilt in the seam, or right next to it??? Thank you for helping!!

I have always known 'Quilting in the Ditch' to be actually stitiching in the seam(channel) where the pieices are joined. After stitching the 'quilting in the ditch' stitches should be basically invisibile.

For the most part I press my seams to one side, so I stitch on the lower side next to the seam. It appears to be the ditch, but not actually on the seam.

Right in the seam, and I hate every minute of every ditch, lol! I've tried matching thread, clear monopoly thread, special stitch in the ditch foot, you name it. I've decided that the open toe "accufeed" foot for my Janome works best, along with going slowly. If you put slight outward pressure with your hands on either side of the seam, it does help some, but its difficult to get it perfect. It does however, secure the seams nicely and really does make the quilt pretty, even with free motion designs. I don't always do it if I'm doing an all-over fmq pattern, but some swear by it.

Well, I try to stitch directly in the ditch but it doesn't always turn out that way.:D

If you press your seams to one side, you stitch on the "lower" side, as close to the seam as you can. I've read if you press your seams open, you should not stitch in the ditch because you are only catching the thread that you used to join the patches. In this case, you would want to stitch close to the seam.

That's what I do too. Depending on the fabric and the pattern (I always use the same batting), sometimes I will use a wobble stitch--zigzag stitch on the narrowest possible. It will wobble over the seam and once washed enhances the "quilted look."

I use a embroidery stitch that goes side to side right over the seam. It looks pretty , plos hides the fact I don't always hit the seam on center.lol

watch Eleanor Burns of Quilt In A Day. She uses her hands to slightly pull the top seam away and stitches right next to it. not really into the stitches of the seam. The fabric then relaxes and helps hide the stitching you do. You can always just stitch 1/4 away from seams too if you prefer. It's a good look.

I do a zig zag stitch when I do stitch in the ditch. I'm not proficient at FMQ so the zig zag works for me.