jitkaau

In the 'olden days' it was advised to stabilise the quilt by stitch in the ditch and then quilt. If you use the glues everything stays fairly well in place and there's usually no movement. I just spray and stitch now. I find it is less messy but more expensive, to iron the sandwich together with vleisofix or equivalent.

Retiredandquilting

I have been fmq for 20 years, and I never stitch in the ditch. I pin baste my three layers together, with my pins about 2" apart. I do not have ay problem with anything shifting.

azwendyg

Sometimes I do SITD in all my seams, sometimes part of them and sometimes none at all. For me it is not about whether or not the spray basting will hold the quilt layers in place. It is about the finished look I'm trying to achieve. SITD in "every stinking seam" like Cindy Needham teaches makes a huge difference in how your piecing looks after it is quilted. It holds the steams straight and true, especially helpful when I do fairly dense FMQ. However, if I want a nice soft and cuddly quilt, I often don't do any SITD or just do it on the border seams. Also, if I want to hold the seams true while I'm quilting, but do not want those lines to be visible in my finished design, I use water soluble thread for my SITD (top AND bobbin), so that it just washes away when the quilt is done.

My advice to you as a fairly new FMQer is to do some comparisons of your own on small pieces and see what you like the "look" of for your work. For me, it depends on the quilt I'm working on.

quilttiger

I almost never sew in the ditch....so far, FMQ has worked for me. Besides, I could never stay inside the lines when I used my crayons in coloring books, LOL.

duckydo

If I am going to do custom, I stitch in the ditch around every block to stabilize it, then go back and do the custom work. If the quilt is going to be one that is going to be hard to nail down it helps me to get it stabilized b4 I do the custom work. Just my way of doing it. Everyone has a different idea.. I have seen some custom work that is not stitched in the ditch and just MO it does not look finished.

kaelynangelfoot

I SITD a quilt to stabilize it and then it backfired on me - it wasn't completely flat and a pucker developed. Now I just start in the center and stitch my way towards the outer edges. For me, that works much better.

littlebitoheaven

IMHO, I would only SID if I were going to FMQ medallion-type patterns. Otherwise, I would think the straight lines would detract from the overa-all look. I do spray baste. That is all I do. Have not experience shifting even with Minky as my backing. BTW, the FMQ on the front of the quilt really looks neat on the Minky back.

mlt150

I never SID and I use 505 spray and never have had a problem. Do whatever makes you comfortable to FmQ because I believe you have to jump in and do lots of free motion quilting to get better. Don't get hung up on someone's technique; dive in and go forth and FMQ! It is the only way to learn and get better.

baywinds

Carol, if you first quilt with just batting and top for the SITD stabilizing part, doesn't your batting get eaten up with the feeddogs or the walkingfoot? I am having a hard time picturing this, but it intrigues me enough to try it. Also I like the washaway thread idea.
Thanks Susan

carolaug

I am now understanding why you SID when using wool batting and warm and natural together...I started first doing the SID just the sashing then the borders..the wool and warm and natural does not stick with the 505 spray...and also am seeing the difference. I will do my 2 inch pieces next...Cindy would be proud...I am doing every seam...the wool does shift if you don't. I am not sewing on the backing though..just the top and batting. Once down I will put on the backing and FMQ it.