Originally Posted by
pumpkinpatchquilter
. But truly, it's just a 1/2" foot with an elongated ring designed to ride next to rulers. My APQS has a thin ring...but I did stack two of my regular rotary cutting rulers up and it doesn't seem like it could jump over it.
Wow APQS certainly does make it difficult for their users. I use rulers and templates all the time and my foot does not have any elongated ring for sliding next to the ruler. Most rulers are designed to accomodate many different machines. Quite honestly, I don't think you need a special foot, especially when you said the person you bought it from made do with the existing foot.
why don't you just go to your local Home Depot, Lowes or Building supply store and have them cut a piece of 1/4" plexiglass for you into a test "ruler" that measures about 3" x 6". It will most likely only cost you a few dollars (a glass shop would also have this). Then you can experiment using a ruler with your existing foot. Just go slow so your hopping foot doesn't hop up on the ruler and your needle hits and throws your machine out of timing. You won't quilt over your finger as long as you pay attention and don't go too fast. You may find you can easily quilt without the specialized foot APQS says you need. If you can do it with this test ruler, you should be able to do it with any 1/4" thick template or ruler.
As an aside, I do have Dusty's Flex II ruler. I don't find it near as nice as Ronda's curved rulers for curved cross hatch. Dusty's is nice for doing partial arcs but the marking on it doesn't make as pretty a curved cross hatch as Ronda's. JMHO Both are available on Quilters Rule website .