HELP!! Straight line machine quilting
 

Do I absolutely need a walking foot to SID or straight line quilt on my little Brother machine?
I don't have a huge budget, but I would really like to do some straight line quilting on the chevron baby quilt I just made. I don't have any of the fancy feet, just a 1/4in, zipper, and blind hem foot.

Nope. You can do it. I've done it on a little Brother machine from Walmart with no walking foot. My first quilts were done that way. A walking foot makes it easier, but give it a go without one. Go slowly.

When the time comes to buy one, you can get a generic one for those little Brothers for about $25 in many places.

Oh! and should my feed dogs be up or down if I'm not using a walking foot?

Feed dogs up. Make a little practice sandwich so you can see if you need to change any tension settings. I usually do not need to change any, but you never know.

Set you stitch length longer than you normally would. Play with that a bit on your practice piece, too, so you can find a length you like. Maybe somewhere close to 3.

Feed dogs up! The walking foot basically puts feed dogs on top and bottom of your material. It just helps control the "bulk" of the quilt. Go ahead and try without, sometimes I forget to put it on and SITD just fine. Have fun.

One point . A friend used normal foot and did all her rows t to bottom. The fabric shifted and creased. Make sure you go top to bottom then bottom to top it smooths out. Takes ages to unpick if you do it wrong.

To me, the frustration was not worth it at all. It might depend on the machine and the batting too. When I used my old machine I bought a generic walking foot for it that was only about $20 or maybe less.

No but you can find a walking foot at decent price, consider it an investment because they come in handy

http://www.kenssewingcenter.com/brot...t-p-31378.html

Make sure you have your quilt pinned securely about every hand print without a walking foot. As others have said before, the walking foot is a feed dog on top since the batting makes what you are sewing a lot fatter. And yes, save your pennies and purchase a generic walking foot for your machine. Good Luck. Take your time and keep checking the back for any puckers as I have always call them.

You can loosen the pressure on the presser foot if your machine has that capability - and I only know of one that doesn't. You need the feeddogs to move the fabric forward, but if you loosen the pressure to where the quilt moves but isn't compressed, it may help alleviate shifting on both the top and back. I don't need a walking for my favorite quilting machine.