What am I doing???
 

I made a fabric checkerboard (8 X 8-----using 2.5" squares) with a small and large border. So it is about 23.5 in square. So far so good. Until I tried to quilt it just SID. What a mess- distorted so Mr. Ripper and I are great friends today. Any tips, hints or alternative ways to finish this little beast? I used thermolam as the batting so I thought this would be easy and quick. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It is on my UFO list.

Walking foot, longer stitch length and looser tension should help you go straight, if that is the problem. Maybe show us pictures then we may have more ideas

i'd probably sew diagonally across each square

That's what I'd do. I think it's more forgiving that SID.

How are you basting the quilt?

Most people baste securely before STID to be sure that nothing slips. A 24 inch square quilt would need some form of basting. I have used Thermolan in table toppers and have done STID successfully. A walking foot is invaluable to success. It allows you to stitch all of your rows in the same direction whereas with a regular foot you have to stitch some rows from the top to the bottom and alternate rows from the bottom to the top so that you do not have the quilt pull out of shape. If you reverse rows and your piece is not secure it will distort the rows and they will not appear straight.

A textile spray adhesive (or glue baste) is awesome for gluing the layers together. Or a fusible batting is great for something small.

Did you baste the quilt at all?? Sometimes I stitch diagonally. I always use my walking foot too. Wish you had posted a photo. I am making these Bible bags for a missionary and I stitch the small squares diagonally with no distortion.

Thanks for all the tips. I was using a walking foot so I will adjust the tension and see how it does. I like the look of going through the squares and will spray baste too. Will post once I finish it!

I know someone said this already, but my first thought was stitching on the diagonal. It is easy with our 2.5 squares!