Gizmalley

Hi everyone!
I recently bought a janome 8900 and I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the feet for quilting. I do free motion quilting and am still a beginner at machine quilting (I've finished one blanket so far and it didn't turn out all that awful). My old machine was a brother innov'is 30 which had exactly one quilting and darning foot: the type that moves up and down while you quilt and really releases the quilt between stitches. The Janome has the same foot, but it's the only one that's not called "quilting" foot in the manual. There are three other quilting feet, an open one, a closed one and a transparent plate shaped one. I tried the closed foot first and was shocked at the big difference to the "bouncing" foot I was used to. I could hardly move the quilt under the foot (with my supreme slider and quilting gloves I can manage now, though), the fabric would bunch up in front of the foot and at "intersections" I sometimes got stuck. I've loosened the foot tension a bit (on the quilting foot) and I have now tried all three feet and realized in direct comparison, that the fixed feet do give you a lot more control over the quilting than the bouncing foot. I like the plate foot best, so far, as it goes over seams the easiest. I'm still having trouble getting used to these feet, but maybe it will just take some practice. However, when I compare the quilting i did with the old machine and the bouncing foot to what I've done with the new machine so far, the quilting looked way, way better with the old one! I can't even do a circle anymore - and they were perfectly round before.
So I guess my question is: Which foot is the best to use? do some of you use the bouncing foot? I did have some issues with it, but so far the result still looked better. Or will it just take some more practice and then I'll be better with the fixed feet than I could ever be with the bouncing one? Any ideas, anyone? And why am I having trouble going over seams? The foot is (hardly) touching the quilt at all!
I'd definitely appreciate your help and any thoughts you might have on this subject.

Greetings from Germany!
:-)
Anya

Sally J

I just purchased a Janome 8200 (basically same machine with fewer fancy stitches). I understand your problem! I have been quilting on a Viking D1 for years with what I call the "floating" foot instead of the hopping. After practice I got pretty good with the floating foot and my quilting was great I thought. Now to the new Janome.....Really different... I tried all the feet also, the big plastic one works the best for me as it doesn't get caught over seams. The smaller feet seem to work better for really close quilting, like Leah Day shows you in her videos. I learned that 1. you have to adjust the foot height at a seam intersection so it is just slightly above that area. Don't make it too high but so it doesn't touch when you hit the highest point in your quilt 2. The machine sews so much faster than my other machine it is like learning the balance from speed of machine and hand movement all over again so I don't get eyelashes around curves 3. My stitches are still very small vs. my old machine. I haven't figured out how to get longer stitches yet but I'm sure I will When I started quilting years ago the only foot I could use on my really old machine was the "hopping foot" and it took me a while to get the technique with the floating foot. Now it's like starting all over again. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE is all I can say. Since I bought this machine for the 11 inch throat I'm committed to get good on this machine. The move from the hopping foot seemed so hard at first but after lots of practice I couldn't go back to the hopping foot again. I'm sure that is how we will feel with this machine also. I joined the Janome7700-8900 yahoo group and have learned we are not the only ones who has questions. I have learned that these machines are picky about threads and needle sizes.

labeelady

I also bought the 8900 recently and have been doing a bit of FMQ with it. I use the "floating" foot. I prefer the closed toe over the open toe because sometimes the open toe foot will snag loose threads.

Have you found the adjustment screw on the foot that raises and lowers the foot? You can adjust it so that it just skims the surface of the quilt. Make sure you place your hands on either side of the foot when quilting and use gloves.
The gloves help you to manipulate the fabric better.

Gizmalley

Hi! Thanks, you two.
Yes, I have found the screw, and I've adjusted it quite a bit. But I find that, when the foot skims the surface of the quilt, I get stuck at the seam-intersections. If I adjust it, so the foot sits higher, the thread tends to brake (and the quilt bounces while I'm sewing). The plate shaped transparent foot gives me the least trouble, but after using the open toe foot for a while I now realize that I can't see what I'm doing with any closed foot.
So I'd really like to use the open one. And after a bit more practice yesterday I must say that it is looking quite a bit better already. But the problem with the seams is still there. And I can't really image adjusting the foot for every seam I go over... I mean, my next project was supposed to be a log cabin!! :-(
Anyone else have the same problem???

kaholly

Thank goodness you ladies are out there! I just bought the 8200 and was just about ready to tear my hair out. Who knew there was a screw on the foot itself! Thanks!

patricej

i have the 8900.

my free motion always stunk out loud; i never did get the hang of a hopping foot; so i started from the opposite direction when it came to adjusting to a different machine.

i found that using 60 wt polyester thread in the bobbin virtually eliminated eyelashes.
it makes up for a lot of my own "failures."
i leave the tension set to "auto".

i prefer the open toe attachment, but know what you mean about the seam humps.
i have not developed a good relationship with the flat, round foot.
sounds like it would be worth the practice, practice, practice to use it successfully.

my free motion still stinks, but at least i no longer need a gas mask. LOL

Esmerelde

I have the 8200 and I love the floating foot even though I've only used it a couple of times, my FMQ made me so happy using it so sorry you're having trouble.

Do you iron your seams open? I do all mine open and haven't had any problems with snagging. I use the open toe foot and adjust the screw so the foot is touching but not dragging on the fabric.

I'm still a complete novice at FMQ really, but here is an example of my work. These are the first and second attempts at FMQ on my 8200. Prior to this I had done a few pieces on my old machine but never been happy with them

First attempt on 8200:


2nd attempt:


Edit: I leave the thread tension on auto, and use the stitch mode that it says in the manual to use for the free motion foot, can't remember what it is off the top of my head!

pokeygirl

Wow! You are doing a great job. I attempted FMQ and it looks like crap. LOL.....Soooooo...I basically just do SITD. I have the Janome 7700 and I have the correct foot, but it's me. My DH says I don't hold my mouth right.

citruscountyquilter

I have had the 8900 for a little over a month now. I found that my free motion stitches were much smaller using this machine than my old Viking. I don't know whether it was the speed of the machine, how I was moving the fabric or what but I couldn't seem to make the stitches larger. I also had trouble following the lines on the circular quilting foot so pretty much stuck with the closed toe one. When I was using my older Viking machine to FMQ I used an open toe embroidery foot rather than the pouncing darning foot. I found that very distracting to use. One thing I haven't tried yet is to set my speed on the Janome to very low to see if that will help in the stitch length as my movement may be more in line with the speed of the machine. I didn't have any trouble with it catching on seams but had to loosen my foot quite a bit to get the material in general to move freely.