Stitch in the Ditch Quilting

Quilting

To do stitch in the ditch quilting you need to prepare your quilt top just as you would for any other type of quilting, simply layer your quilt tops with batting and a backing fabric and baste as desired. If you plan to pin baste your quilt try to avoid pinning over the seams you wish to stitch along, unless you plan to remove them as you get to them.

Special Stitch in the Ditch Foot

Ashley demonstrates how to use a stitch in the ditch foot to make doing stitch in the ditch quilting much easier. A stitch in the ditch foot may come with your machine, depending on the type of machine you have, or it is one you can purchase separately. Most machine brands have their own kind of specialty feet which can be purchased online or directly through a manufacturer. Ashley first shows what makes a stitch in the ditch quilting foot special and explains what part of it needs to be lined up along the seam or the ‘ditch’ in the quilt.

She then shows how to place a quilt sample on your machine, line up the foot and begin stitching. She explains that while using a stitch in the ditch foot makes that type of quilting much easier, you should still start out slowly until you get the feel for it — just like any other type of quilting. While this type of quilting can be done over an entire quilt, it can also be combined with other quilting, like free motion quilt or other designs that involve creating decorative stitches.