ktbb

the screw on my walking foot keeps coming loose as well, I'm just trained myself to tighten it every hour or so. If it was loose and shifted, it could have bent/broken your needle and that jarring might have bent the walking foot as well.

sounds like you've tried out everything, and not sure what the issue is. If you purchased it at your brother dealer, it should be compatible with your machine, but you might want to take the machine in and let them see what happened - they might have some other ideas. but that might have to wait till after the Christmas rush, huh?

quiltinghere

Try sewing slower (remember you're quilting faster with a machine and a walking foot than by hand)

and

get rid of the pins as they start to come up on the machine bed. It's a habit to develop is you want to stop running over pins.

mic-pa

I have had my walking foot on all three machines and none of them ever broke. What kind of machine do you have. I don't understand why they would break.

mom-6

Thanks for bringing this up. I also have a Brother machine and am wanting to get a walking foot. Guess I need to look at how well made they are. The picture I saw on the internet search looked a bit questionable as to sturdiness.

smitty

I have used walking feet on a variety of machines & have never had one break. one thing that can happen--you might have threads on the back of the quilt that are catching on something & momentarily giving a hiccup to the stitching. this might cause the needle to hit at wrong time or wrong spot. my machine is set in a table, but I have one rounded spot where the quilt sometimes catches slightly. also, if you are quilting on a machine without a table, the weight of the quilt could be coming into play as you stitch.pulls the fabric slightly out of line & causes thread of needle breakage.

ranger

Yes, smitty. I have had those problems...the 'hiccup' and the weight of the quilt dragging the fabric. My machine isn't set into a table and that means stopping many times to adjust the weight. Perhaps that is what happens...the weight pulls the fabric and/or needle slightly.
Quilting a 80 something x 90 something inches quilt on a small machine is a hassle to say the least.
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Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions. You are all the best!