Newbie-SITD

What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh

The ditch is what you get when you press seams to one side. 3 layers of
fabric next to 1 layer will create a slight ridge. There's also a little
ridge around applique pieces. If you want to outline pieces "in the ditch",
you need to stitch just next to the ridge on the low side. (If you press
your seams open, then no ditch forms. Do Not stitch right over the seam
stitching, it's too much strain on these threads.) It's not always easy.
Seams get pressed in different directions, and there will always be
intersecting seams. I usually avoid the ditch, but sometimes it's just the
best quilting plan. So I generally decide to stitch along the lighter side
of each seam, which will usually be the ditch side, and do a teensy little
jog at intersections if necessary. A walking foot helps a lot. But free
motion is good too. The key is Practice! You want to avoid extremely wonky
lines that wander up over the ridge and back down, and look like you have no
control over your machine :-)
Roberta in D

"hmharris" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. ..
What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh

Adding to what Roberta said: I always go very slowly when doing this.
Also, consider where your best light is coming from and position your
work so that the low side is nearer the light. Otherwise, when you are
trying to sew along the low part of the ridged seam, the line you want
to follow will always be in shadow - try it and see! It makes an
enormous difference. I usually would start in a corner. Then when you
approach a turning point, make the last stitch by turning the hand wheel
so that the needle goes into the turning corner exactly. I think that
is one of the things which detracts from good SITD, when there are eight
gaps between the last stitch and the corner or the stitch goes up onto
the bit of ridge beyond the corner.
..
In message , hmharris
writes
What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

But if you miss the ditch a little a few times, don't agonize over it.
Remember the "galloping horse" rule -- can you see the goof from a
galloping horse? If not, it's okay to leave it. Unless you are entering
a judged quilt show, no one else is going to closely examine every
stitch in your quilt and it is unlikely that anyone will notice, much
less comment on, the places where you strayed a bit from the ditch.

Julia in MN

Patti wrote:
Adding to what Roberta said: I always go very slowly when doing this.
Also, consider where your best light is coming from and position your
work so that the low side is nearer the light. Otherwise, when you are
trying to sew along the low part of the ridged seam, the line you want
to follow will always be in shadow - try it and see! It makes an
enormous difference. I usually would start in a corner. Then when you
approach a turning point, make the last stitch by turning the hand wheel
so that the needle goes into the turning corner exactly. I think that
is one of the things which detracts from good SITD, when there are eight
gaps between the last stitch and the corner or the stitch goes up onto
the bit of ridge beyond the corner.
.
In message , hmharris
writes
What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh





--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

My SM has an in the ditch foot. I also have a 1/4" foot, well, the ditch
foot looks like that except the ridge is in the middle. This helps you
easily navigate in the ditch without getting wonky. Check your attachments
to see if you might have one of these.

--
Boca Jan
Florida - Land of the Hurricanes
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/poo_de_doo/myphotos


"hmharris" wrote in message
. ..
What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh

You can also use either an open toe foot or an edge
joining/stitch-in-the-ditch foot to do this. Loosen the pressure on your
pressure foot to reduce the "drag" of the pressure foot on the top fabric.
The open toe foot really helps you see where the needle is going, but
the edge joining foot has a "keel" that rides right along the ridge of
the seam and sort of "opens" it a bit to help stitch right in the ditch
of the seam. G

Pati, in Phx

Julia in MN wrote:

But if you miss the ditch a little a few times, don't agonize over it.
Remember the "galloping horse" rule -- can you see the goof from a
galloping horse? If not, it's okay to leave it. Unless you are entering
a judged quilt show, no one else is going to closely examine every
stitch in your quilt and it is unlikely that anyone will notice, much
less comment on, the places where you strayed a bit from the ditch.

Julia in MN

Patti wrote:

Adding to what Roberta said: I always go very slowly when doing this.
Also, consider where your best light is coming from and position your
work so that the low side is nearer the light. Otherwise, when you
are trying to sew along the low part of the ridged seam, the line you
want to follow will always be in shadow - try it and see! It makes an
enormous difference. I usually would start in a corner. Then when
you approach a turning point, make the last stitch by turning the hand
wheel so that the needle goes into the turning corner exactly. I
think that is one of the things which detracts from good SITD, when
there are eight gaps between the last stitch and the corner or the
stitch goes up onto the bit of ridge beyond the corner.
.
In message , hmharris
writes

What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I
start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh

is the 'ridge' on that ditch foot underneath?
i guess it must be. hmmmmm. i wonder if i've got one.
as soon as ds and his g/f move out i'll be able to rearrange the sewing room
and get back into some sewing. in the meantime there is just too much stuff
in too small a room and i need to get my quilting frame in there so out goes
some of the furniture but not til there is room downstairs for it. sigh....
i love having them here but i'd become used to only three to cope with in
the house. oh well.
jeanne
--
Vote B'fly for President '08
san-fran at ihug dot co dot nz
nzlstar on yahoo msg'r
nzlstar on webshots

"Boca Jan" wrote...
My SM has an in the ditch foot. I also have a 1/4" foot, well, the ditch
foot looks like that except the ridge is in the middle. This helps you
easily navigate in the ditch without getting wonky. Check your attachments
to see if you might have one of these.

That works, too, but I think I would rather use the walking foot so all
the layers feed through together. I'd rather have less than perfect
stitch in the ditch than tucks and pleats in the backing.

Julia in MN

Pati Cook wrote:
You can also use either an open toe foot or an edge
joining/stitch-in-the-ditch foot to do this. Loosen the pressure on your
pressure foot to reduce the "drag" of the pressure foot on the top fabric.
The open toe foot really helps you see where the needle is going, but
the edge joining foot has a "keel" that rides right along the ridge of
the seam and sort of "opens" it a bit to help stitch right in the ditch
of the seam. G

Pati, in Phx

Julia in MN wrote:

But if you miss the ditch a little a few times, don't agonize over it.
Remember the "galloping horse" rule -- can you see the goof from a
galloping horse? If not, it's okay to leave it. Unless you are
entering a judged quilt show, no one else is going to closely examine
every stitch in your quilt and it is unlikely that anyone will notice,
much less comment on, the places where you strayed a bit from the ditch.

Julia in MN

Patti wrote:

Adding to what Roberta said: I always go very slowly when doing this.
Also, consider where your best light is coming from and position your
work so that the low side is nearer the light. Otherwise, when you
are trying to sew along the low part of the ridged seam, the line you
want to follow will always be in shadow - try it and see! It makes
an enormous difference. I usually would start in a corner. Then
when you approach a turning point, make the last stitch by turning
the hand wheel so that the needle goes into the turning corner
exactly. I think that is one of the things which detracts from good
SITD, when there are eight gaps between the last stitch and the
corner or the stitch goes up onto the bit of ridge beyond the corner.
.
In message , hmharris
writes

What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I
start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing
some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh







--
This message has been scanned for viruses by Norton Anti-Virus

http://webpages.charter.net/jaccola/

Thanks to everyone. I will use my walking foot and take my time.
"Boca Jan" wrote in message
...
My SM has an in the ditch foot. I also have a 1/4" foot, well, the ditch
foot looks like that except the ridge is in the middle. This helps you
easily navigate in the ditch without getting wonky. Check your attachments
to see if you might have one of these.

--
Boca Jan
Florida - Land of the Hurricanes
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/poo_de_doo/myphotos


"hmharris" wrote in message
. ..
What in the procedure for stitching in the ditch? Where would I start to
make it the easiest? And would I use the walking foot? I am doing some
'forward planning"!

Thanks.
hh