Do you have the foot attached correctly? There is a metal piece (a lever that sticks out on top) above the spring that is supposed to be resting above the screw that loosen/tightens up the needle. When a stitch is taken, the lever lifts the foot so you can move the fabric. If the lever is below the screw, the spring will stay tight.

Mine will distort the fabric if I have the pressure foot pressure to high. Also make sure the darning foot is on correctly. I thought mine was but it wasn't. It was sitting on the shaft at a backward angle. Once I got it installed correctly all was good and I even had to raise the pressure a bit. Get down with a flashlight and make sure everything is lined up and FULLY seated. Also make sure the little arm is resting on the needle screw.

I just bought a new Juki and I am having the same problem. Yes, the feed dogs are down, stitch at O, pressure foot at top according to the direction in the booklet. I can free motion, however I too have to push and pull even with a thin batting. If I had a thicker quilt under there I would not be able to free motion. The foot pushes the material on top if I don't hold it down. I wrote back to the Juki company two days ago to see if there is some kind of adjustment for the foot, waiting on reply now. Regular stitching is beautiful and fast even with 8 layers. Just need to do something with the foot.

I discovered a tiny ridged wheel (horiz) at the top R near where the bar sits on the needle screw. I can roll the wheel and the foot will go up or down to ease over quilt. I must look at my 2nd foot to see if it adjusts...have never needed with that one. One is open toe, one closed..without looking, I think I'm describing the closed foot. I'm sure there must be adjustment somewhere!

I raise the foot on my Pfaffs (1475 & my Tiptronic). And then push just slightly to the back as I manually lower until I feel it slip against a notch...then I release and it stays in that slightly raised position for darning/quilting. Easy.

Yes...watch the Leah Day video on how to fix foot. :thumbup:

I have an older Pfaff and if you will lower your foot about half way and push back a bit it will catch and stay and that's the position you need for darning/quilting. If you have your manual it should explain it too but the explanation may be for "darning".

I think this can be a problem if you don't have a machine with adjustable foot pressure. Try to use batting that is quite thin to begin with. It is much more difficult to quilt with thick batting. If you find it is still too thick, make sure you have your hopping foot on correctly. The bar at the top oof the foot should be sitting on top of the bar that holds the needle in place. Hope you solve the problem as it is fun once you get the hang of it.
I have done further reading and did not realise you have a Pfaff. You don't put the foot all of the way down with a pfaff. There is a halfway position which is the quilting position. Then you can sometimes knock it out of position whilst quilting, so you need to be mindful of this.