Barb,
The walking foot is used to do straight-line quilting or sewing. The feed dogs push the fabric along from the bottom and the walking foot pushes along from the top for an even feed. The only adjustment to my machine is to reduce the pressure on the foot as you are working with a bit more bulk than regular sewing.
If you want to do free-motion quilting, you will need to find an open-toe foot. Perhaps it is a clear plastic shaped like a dish. Check your extra feet and see if you have one of these. Your instruction book should give you the names of your extra feet. Or you may need to purchase one.
Let us know what you find and then I'll/we'll take you the next step. Suzanne