I bought a darning foot on Amazon, a generic one as I initially wasn't sure I would enjoy FMQ enough to keep doing it. It has been sufficient in getting the job done--just a clear plastic oval with red lines.
I started meandering a baby quilt last night, got about 1/4 done and decided to stop for the night. When I went back to work on it today, About 6 or 8 inches of stippling, and the needle broke with a WHAM! I could see where it had hit the darning foot, on the back side, bending the needle so that it eventually broke from hitting the metal plate just in front of the needle hole. I thought maybe I had put too much tension on the needle with the way I had the quilt positioned, so I changed needle, moved the quilt and tried again. WHAM! another broken needle after 6-8 inches.
Of course it's Sunday and I probably won't find a darning foot at any of the chain stores. But, I wonder if a replacement foot will fix the issue? Not to mention, I need a new pack of quilting needles....
Anyone had this happen? How did you fix it? Does the metal darning foot work better than the acrylic one?