Machine Quilting Question
 

Hi Everyone! I am working on three baby quilts. I would like to machine quilt them with easy quilting, nothing fancy. I do not have a walking foot or a free motion quilting foot and cannot afford them right now. So my question is, what foot can I use to machine quilt? I am going to do stitch in the ditch I think or some other straight line quilting. My other option: My Mom has a darning foot for her machine which she calls her quilting foot. I looked in the book that came with her machine and they don't mention using it for quilting. In any case, I think it might work for FMQ, but I have never done that before, although I do want to learn. Other than tying the quilts, which I don't want to do and can't afford to send them out to be quilting, what can I do? Any advice is welcome! I have a Janome DC2007LE. My friends have Janome's as well but different models. Perhaps one of their walking feet will fit on mine? Thanks!

The most important thing about a walking foot is that it keeps both layers together passing thru the thread and needle. I have found myself quilting small items like mug rugs with just a normal foot.

Before I got my walking foot, I quilted 2 baby quilts with my regular pressure foot and it worked fine for straight line quilting. The only issue is that your layers may shift a little since the bottom one next to the feed dogs will move quicker than the top layer next to the pressure fooT--but if you use lots of pins or basting you can do it just fine. For some reason I think I have seen the term darning foot used interchangeably with quilting foot--is it a round foot? Might work just fine for FMQ but am not sure.

Yes, the darning foot is a round foot.

Thanks for replying. Your ideas are very helpful.

Ask your mom for some tips! Maybe she just has the feed dogs down. I myself just gently guide through.

A darning foot will work for free motion quilting. You probably have one for your machine.

Thanks for your your advice. I emailed my quilting pals, we are getting together Thursday for a day of sewing, and asked if they could bring their walking feet if they are willing to let me borrow it. They have Janome machines but different models. Maybe one of the feet will fit my machine. If not, I will pin heavily and use my regular foot. The first baby quilt is pretty straight forward. The other two are applique quilts and I will practice with my Mom's darning foot on her machine before I tackle the applique quilts. I checked and my machine does not come with a darning foot.

The walking foot for most Janome's is not that expensive - less than $30 here in Canada. Be glad you are not buying a walking foot for a Bernina or Husqvarna which are in the $125 - $150 range.