I would actually say that none of that is "essential". I free motion quilted for a year or so without even gloves. Now I have a pair of gloves I found in the kitchen aisle, cloth with some foam plastic coating on the palms and fingers, and they do help. But I still don't have any of the other stuff. However, I have only done FMQ on smaller quilts - wallhanging and crib size. They're pretty easily manuevered. So the larger the quilt, the more the other things might help.