hobbykat1955

this happens if you SID with seams ironed open and not to one side...Should not SID w/open seams or you will cut threads

Barb2018

I'm an oddball and I actually like to STID. After many quilts and much practice it's not the horror it was at the beginning....but I'm a type A perfectionist and I had to learn that it wasn't going to be perfect. In the beginning it took lots of concentration and I was so tense (because I thought it had to be perfect) that it was exhausting. Many times I had a tension headache after a quilting session. It really helps to use a matching thread so when (not if) you make a mistake, it will blend in better.

toverly

I stay out of the ditch and prefer to stitch beside the ditch. It has a topstitch kind of look. What drives me crazy about my stitch in the ditch style is that I can't stay in it. Sometimes the thread disappears and sometimes it shows. I'm pretty good about stitching about a 1/16 of an inch to the same side the seams are pressed.

luvstoquilt301

Before I got my HQ16 I would do serpentine stitch on top of the ditch using my built in walking foot on my Janome. It looks pretty on both the front and back.

quiltsRfun

Same here.

cashs_mom

I do, too! I thought I was the only one!

tesspug

I iron my seams to one side and then stick over both seam allowances. Any little wiggles in the line don't show like they do if you stay right in the ditch. In the ditch every time you wobble out you see the squiggle, next to it hides that squiggle better. But I find doing an allover crosshatch using blue painters tape to be the easiest. Just lay a line of blue tape over the whole quilt on a diagonal slant. Use the edge of the tape as your guide to stitch. Line the edge of your foot along the tape and sew all the way across. Turn the quilt and sew along the other side. Then move the tape and line it up along the sea you just sewed. Sew along again. Keep moving tape and sewing until your done. Then lay tape across in the other direction and do the same thing. Perfectly lined up crosshatches. Google "How to quilt using painter's tape" for videos.

rryder

Me too!

Rob

bearisgray

I have done a lot of SID quilting with my Pfaff 1471. It is a mid 1980's machine with a built-in walking foot.

The largest quilt I pushed through this machine was about 82 x 63 inches - and had warm and natural batting in it.

I pin baste closely -
Only stitch in one direction - so that if it is going to pull - all the pulls will go in the same direction
Use rubber gloves for "traction" while handling the quilt
I use more of a "puddling" than "rolling up the quit" to get it through the machine
When sewing "on the bias" - I very carefully straightened out each area while I was sewing it
Occasionally I had to do a small jog to stay in the ditch if one of my joins was off a bit - not a big deal

I like to SID - probably because I have not figured out how to do FMQing!

Prism99

I'm one of those who hate doing STD. It makes me tense up. Once I realized I could use a serpentine stitch instead, or just go "organic" and do wavy lines with my walking foot, I quit STD completely.

My first piece of advice with STD is to go slowly. When I started STD, I thought it could go fast (and maybe it can for other people). In order to stay in the ditch, however, I found that I had to go really slowly and stop often (with needle down) to re-arrange my hands and the quilt.

My second piece of advice is to resist pulling the seam apart and resist trying to manipulate the quilt sandwich too much. You don't realize it until afterwards, but too much pulling and pushing while sewing causes distortion in your quilting lines. If you do too much manipulation, it can even cause your stitching lines to ripple the quilt.

I found that using a walking foot helped me reduce the tendency to over-manipulate the sandwich. Guiding the quilt is good; man-handling the quilt is not!