I did try quilting without a foot - on my machine, the layers kept being dragged up and I had to keep my fingers too close to the needle to make sure it stayed down. The result was worse than my normal quilting and I sewed my finger. I use a hopping foot with my feed dogs down and I start on the outside and go in and I don't get any puckers either, so I think I will stick to the method that works for me. The hoops look good for thread painting.