DonnaC

As promised, here is my extremely low-tech solution to the clanky walking foot problem! It saved me from headaches while finishing a quilt with miles of stitch-in-the-ditch.

I found that the issue (at least with my Juki) was that the u-shaped hook on the walking foot that goes over the needle clamp constantly jumps up and down while I'm sewing. I needed a way to "pad" that hook so that it wouldn't constantly be whacking metal-on-metal and making tons of noise.

I wrapped a tiny strip of shelf liner (that grippy stuff you can buy a whole roll of at the Dollar Tree) around the top portion of the u-shape, and then simply put a good portion of regular clear tape around it to hold the shelf liner on. Then, I wrapped the bottom portion of the u-shape with the same regular clear tape. It worked! There is still some "play" in the two pieces (between the u-shape and the needle clamp) but it is much tighter and more secure and, hooray, no more noise. Best part is, if the little piece of liner breaks apart after a while or comes loose, you just need another strip and some more tape. It's as cheap and easy a solution as possible!

Here are a couple of not-so-great photos taken with my phone. The shelf liner in the picture is beige and the tape is clear, of course. Please excuse the dust LOL. I think you'll get the idea though!