I have two 301's..adore them! I have pieced on them for yrs and yrs, and never need a 1/4th foot, the line is right on the metal plate where to place your fabric. Try a test piece, dont watch your needle ever, watch where your fabric slides along just inside that line . then test it, press your sample and measure, and you will have perfect1/4in seam every time, or adjust if you wavered and you will know where to place fabric each time. I have a generic hopping foot for free motion quilting on them if I wanted to use them for that, the feed dogs do drop, but I prefer free motion quilting on another machine of mine, its set up for that all the time. Hope this helped you