Yes, I had the pressure foot down. I was worried that this was part of the reason that I could not get the fabric to move very well. The plastic cover made that area smaller.

I have received good advice from many friends. I am glad I joined.

what kind of machine do you have?

Glad you got it going :thumbup:

Just keep trying. I just had to replace my walking foot, it was shot, I also use it as the foot I piece with because it feeds the pieces smoother. Anyway, it was only $29. I thought it was very reasonable. I sure helps feed the heavy quilt through the needle. I don't use it any more for quilting, I just use my darning foot for both freemotion and stitch in the ditch. It works really well for me. The rate of success for quilting is proportional to the amount of practice. So keep trying. you'll get better. It does become fun, and there is a lot of experimenting to do, trying new patterns, echoing, all kinds of fun stuff.
Lucinda

you only put the feed dog down if using the darning foot for free motion, when using a regular foot you need your feeddogs functioning, this helps move the fabric...you also keep them up with a walking foot, the walking foot keeps the top and bottom moving equally, if the feeddogs are down/ or covered, this does not allow this vital function to happen. i quilt on my machine with different feet all the time...but the feeddogs are a vital part of the process unless you are using the darning foot (which is round and does not hold the fabric down)and practice. you do need to put needle down before raising the pressure foot when turning but curves should be easy enough just going along, as long as your feeddogs are helping you along