Have You Made A Quilt Without Using A Walking Foot?
 

Hello! I am the newest of new and know absolutely nothing about making quilts. I AM trying to learn, now in my retirement, since I have plenty of time. I made a few, when I was younger. My old machine died and I saved the walking foot I had then. Now I find it won't work on my new machine. I'm so disappointed! This machine is the exact same as my old one, I thought it would work. Now I'm stuck with several unfinished projects, and I really don't want to buy a new walking foot. I'm poor lol. Can I quilt my projects with a regular foot?

I don't use a walking foot for straight or wavy line quilting. I don't use it for bindings. I guess play around with the pressure on your foot and see if it works for you.

I think a walking foot is essential. About 25 years ago, I did put bindings on with a regular presser foot and even quilted a small wallhanging. But when i got a generic walking foot, I could really see a difference in speed and quality of stitching. I think it's well worth spending the money, however expensive it is up front.

I rarely put a walking foot on, although I only quilt small items (baby quilts, runners). It will depend in part on the machine you are using; some have a built in feature that helps even feeding.

Make a practice sandwich with backing, batting and top fabric and give it a try. Use different speeds and designs to see how it goes.

I feel more comfortable using the walking foot as I think the backing and the top move together better. As opposed to other accessories, the walking foot will probably be worth the investment as it will be used many times during the life of your new machine. There are other feet that even come with the machines that are of little use. My opinion and experience anyhow!

Yes -- I have made many many quilts before/without a walking foot. With my vintage machine I typically left the feed dogs engaged even, but it was (is!) one capable of doing jeans and upholstery. I was limited with what I could do well but with a lot of fabric turning and such could do straight grid lines on the bed (or I call body) of the quilt. Could do a bit fancier things and gentle curves like pumpkin seeds on the border. Borders were about the number of passes... 2 didn't seem enough, 4 was usual and I got bored with much more than that.

Having said it's possible it is -- but at this point in my life I do not want to stuff a king sized quilt through my vintage machine again, and my body just can't handle the effort without being "crunkled". Plus although I still want a lot less quilting that is popular today, I do want more free motion than grids and things I can do with my feed dogs up.

Getting a walking foot is a small price to pay (I know, with some machines they are pricey) if it gets you the results you want.

The closer you baste a quilt the less puckers and folds you will have without a walking foot. I glue baste every inch of my quilts and don't have to worry about the layers shifting without a walking foot. You may like quilting one block at time, or one row at a time doing Quilt as you Go method. Lots of new ways to do that now. You tube has many tutorials.
I buy most all my machine feet from Wawak online. They have feet to fit most all machines at reasonable prices.

Quilting with a regular foot will work, but I think it puckers. Amazon has some walking feet for about $30.

I think it depends on your machine. I can quilt without a walking foot on my Bernina's with no problems. Other machines are more difficult. You'll have to play with your machine and see how it does. You can also find used sewing machine parts on eBay cheaper than new. Again, you'll have to look for a bit to find what you want.

In your post you say this machine is exactly the same as the old one. What about the walking foot doesn’t work? Can you attach it to the machine ?

You could try just basting the quilt and then "tieing" it with some sort of a stitch on your machine or even hand doing it. I don't know what stitches you have on your machine. I have used a decorative or even an eyelet stitch to tie with.

WAlking foot
 

Do you have a quilt guild near you? Or a sewing group at the library, or community center? These could be places to find used parts or help finishing your quilts.

I don't use a walking foot when I quilt and don't have any problems doing that. I do all my own FMQ on my Janome sewing machine. It should work for you to use a regular foot.

What is your machine? It would help to know what you are using to give you a better answer.

I have 3 or 4 walking feet, and I don't use them. I just cannot get used to them. I quilt everything using my regular/general foot. The largest I have quilted is queen sized quilts, and I don't have any issues with puckering or gaps. I do a lot of SITD, echo, cross-hatch, and wavy variations. I would think it should/could work for you.

Different machines feed fabric differently. On some, a walking foot is almost essential. On others, they do OK without it. One way to figure out if you need a walking foot is to do a long seam where you start out with the two fabrics absolutely the same length. Then stitch, don't pin, If at the end you have an uneven end that is significant, a walking foot would probably make a big difference with feeding the fabric. Of course, changing pressure might help a bit and also pinning will help a bit. Just will be a lot less fussing with a walking foot as both pieces will feed more uniformly. If you tell us which machine you have, folks may be able to tell you what their experience has been with that particular machine.

I don't use a walking foot. I bought this foot that is like a disc that goes up and down.and is clear plastic so that you can see where it's stitching. It flattens the fabric and doesn't push the fabric forward I don't get puckers with it. I think there are several feet out there that are simliar to it. I find it expecially good to use for batting that is fluffy instead of flat.

I never use a walking foot. Don't need it.

I never use one either. The walking foot for my machine is a bulky pain in the neck.

I started doing FMQ on my quilts because it lets me rearrange the quilt to fit the space. It is easier for me than doing straight line quilting with or without a walking foot. Yes, there is a learning curve, but the results are so much easier.