I have all three of those machines and I do quilt on all of them with the walking foot. I do have a walking foot that works well on the 301, also. I fmq on the 15-91 and the 301 but not the 201 since it is such a problem to put it back together again if you have to take the bobbin assembly ring off to clean out a thread mess (or lint). Since I do not have any issues (and I do not mean to sound superior or in any way critical) I suggest that the answer may be found in your technique. I have taken classes and will be glad to share information with you.
First, how are you preparing your quilt? Is it taut, and held together with either hand basting or pin basting, and how close are the pins? I have a pin every 3 inches at most. Do you check for loose backing or loose top area before you start? If everything is taut, what is your technique for feeding fabric?
When I fmq, I use my hands to form a triangle around the needle. That is, my thumbs touch or almost touch, and my index fingers touch or almost touch. I am wearing gloves. My feed dogs are down and my stitch length is zero.
If I line quilt (with a walking foot), I usually only need to support the fabric so the machine takes it and it feeds evenly. On a big quilt, that means I might put the quilt over my left shoulder. It is also vital to have the machine bed at the same level with the surrounding surface, IMHO. You don't want the quilt dropping a couple inches as that pulls too much on the needle. However, if I have problems, I put on the gloves and guide the fabric through, letting the machine take it. My hands are then on each side of the presser foot, and ahead of it, toward my body. My stitch length would be about 8 stitches to the inch. Feed dogs are up.
For both fmq and straight-line qulting, the presser foot pressure is normally set about half way.
Oh! I do also have a Singer 127 treadle, and the same thing as above applies.
Is this enough information?
Last edited by cricket_iscute; 03-08-2013 at 09:56 AM.