Without a walking foot, you need to decrease the pressure on your presser foot so it doesn't wrinkle up the top fabric as it goes through. Make the pressure enough that the feed dogs do pull your quilt through, but not enough to smash it all too tightly. This works well for straight stitching like stitch in the ditch. If you plan to do a lot of machine quilting in the future, I would shop for a good walking foot.