problem with breaking needles while using my walking foot
 

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a problem with breaking needles with the walking foot? I used mine for the first time on this quilt and broke 4 needles while using it. I have never broke a needle in this machine before putting the walking foot on. It seems to happen when I get sewing along at a pretty fast clip so I suspect that going fast is the problem. Once I set the speed so I couldn't go fast, I didn't break any more. So is a walking foot not meant to be used at full sewing speed? I really liked how much easier it was to do the binding with it, except for changing the broken needles, LOL.
Any tips would be appreciated. Hugs and smilessss....:)

what kind of machine and what size needle? Is it just the top you're sewing, or the quilt sandwich?

I use my walking foot all the time and have never broken a needle, it doesn't matter what speed I go at. Guess I can't help you with your problem.

I've never broken a needle while using my walking foot.

Yes, this happens to me. The problem is that the arm on the walking foot, which takes its power from the needle bar, is resting on the screw that holds the needle in place. That is how the system is designed. Anyway, the action from the walking foot lever causes the screw to loosen, and finally the needle drops out and breaks during the sewing action. You are right that speed is part of the problem. What I do is stop and check the needle screw frequently, giving it a turn tighter for good measure. If you do this, you can feel when/if it starts to loosen up.

I also sometimes have a problem with the screw that holds the walking foot to the needle bar. If it loosens too much, the walking foot will wobble, and the needle can hit the foot, causing a break.

Dayle

In general, I don't think we should be trying to run our walking feet as fast as regular sewing. I use a Pfaff 130, and that machine can go fast. I have to slow down some with the walking foot on.

Dayle

I have never had a problem sewing fast with the walking foot engaged on my Pfaff.

Dayle, I think you have hit on my problem. I did have to tighten the screw that holds the walking foot to the needle bar each time. My machine is a Kenmore. I only finger tightened it but will use the screwdriver to make sure it is really snug from now on.
Thanks for the helpful insights!!

Love all this information! I have a walking foot, but when I was going to try it, I didn't have a long screw driver to put it on, and turns out I haven't gotten back to my quilt since then. I'm so glad to learn these tricks so I know what to expect! Thanks all!

Thank you so much for these postings I nearly threw my machine out of the window yesterday as I broke 3 needles with my walking foot, at least now I know what to look out for lol! x

Thanks for the info-good to know-sew nice to not have to find out the hard way!

I also am having a problem with my walking foot. i have a Kenmore and it seems like i can't line up the foot so needle doesn't hit walking foot bed...what am i doing wrong?
do i really need a walking foot to quilt my lap top?
geez

Deniseinlv are you straight stitching with your walking foot or doing something decorative? It should not be hitting the foot in straight stitch mode. Does this happen with any other foot?

I've broken a couple with mine - for me it is operator error that I get the quilt moving just fast/hard enough that it pulls the needle slightly - enough that it hits the foot instead of the hole (I have the zigzag face plate on, so that is not the issue).

Cheers, K

I'm taking a Craftsy class called Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot (Which is VERY good by the way). Once of the first things the instructor said is that it's called a "walking foot" for a reason. It's not called a "running foot". She stressed the fact that you need to go slow with it.

I'm glad that someone posted about the possibility that the needle screw could come loose. I'll have to check that, too.

Make sure your quilt is fully supported on all sides while stitching--that is, no hanging off the back, the left side or the front. The weight of those three unsupported layers could be what's causing your needle to break.

Deniseinlv you do NOT need a walking foot to quilt. I pretty much have given up using mine and I still quilt mine on my home machine. And I go a lot faster too. LOL... Having to go slow, and keep tightening the screw, just seemed to be more irksome to me than it was worth so I gave it up. Maybe I'll give it another try if I ever get into fancy quilting, but I don't see that in my future at this time.

A walking foot is helpful for straight line quilting. The darning foot for free motion because you have more freedom over turning the quilt with the darning/hopping foot.

I find the walking foot to be extremely helpful. I finished one seam on a quilt, flipped it over and saw all the pleats and tucks and then looked more closely at my machine and realized that I still had the 1/4 inch foot on it.

Cheers, K

Cheers, K

I had a lot of trouble with needles breaking while using the quilting foot (open circle) with the walking foot. I think my problem, though, was loading the quilt into the Flynn frame incorrectly. If you look at the frame in the machine, I had the back side of the quilt (back meaning furthest away from me) rolling over the roller in the back. I think it should have been rolling under the roller in the back.