A walking foot attachment?

I am waiting for my new (old) Singer 301a to show up this week and I have been trying to figure out which attachments would be indispensable to me for quilting. It came with these:

Binder
Hemmer
Shirrer
Button Foot
Edge Stitcher
Adjustable Zipper Foot

I have ordered the darning foot and a ruffler (For making my two daughters' old fashioned skirts).

I have been looking at tutorials for FMQ and saw one person who said she always used a walking foot for straight lines.

Is this a must have?

Why don't you try it without and see?

It just arrived, so I guess I will!

There is just so much I don't know and I want to get everything I need to do a good job.....now to go practice!

I have done FMQ on a singer 301 for years and all I ever used was my darning foot.

A darning foot is used when you drop the feed dogs and are doing free-motion quilting. It 'hops' as you stitch which allows you to move the fabric freely in any direction.

A walking foot is used when you leave the feed dogs up. It helps pull the top layer of fabric through at the same rate as the bottom layer, helping to prevent pleats and puckers when working on several layers such as you have in a quilt sandwich. It is not absolutely necessary, but you will probably end up with a nicer finished product if you use one. I even use my walking foot when attaching the binding, it comes out smoother and straighter that way.

If you manage to make the quilt sandwich real taut, then you should be able to do straight-line quilting without a walking foot. Just go slow and control both sides of the sandwich as it advances under the needle. And remember, those little tucks on the back are really called quilter's kisses.

Awww~!

I'll remember!

I plan to buy a walking foot and see what I prefer. I am thinking I'll find I like them both for different things.

I have a 301 and 301A...They also came with allot of diff feet...But I like having a walking foot for quilting and SID and even though there's a mark on the plate for 1/4 inch I wanted a 1/4 with guide and I needed a FM foot. I just rec'd all in the mail today from Sew Classic...
I had to keep cking re: the 301 Walking Foot they have just for that machine since it was always out of stock. But cked the other morning and he had one and I grabbed it up...Other walking feet as he will states in his adds need to be modified for the 301...he sells the modified walking foot...Look under Slant Needle for all your parts...