Question about walking foot
 

I'm relatively new to quilting, but not to sewing. I received a new machine for Christmas and it came with a walking foot. Up until this machine, I have hand quilted all my quilts, but now I want to try some machine quilting. Is the walking foot just for straight line quilting, or can it handle curves and turns? What are the limitations with a walking foot. My next project will be a log cabin quilt for my son and I want to machine quilt it if possible. Thanks!

Walking feet do 'mainly' straight line quilting, but you can do slight curving with them. No looping or FMQ.

You can do more than straight stitchng with a walking foot. I use a side to side stitch to machine applipue or outline stitch around applique. I've also printed patterns on onion skin paper, pinned to the quilt & used the walking foot to stitch. You just have to go slow & if necesary raise the foot multiple times when going around sharp curves & making turns. Hopefull your machine has the "needle down" option.

The walking foot is good for straight line stitching. I have done gentle curves with it but If you are really into FMQ then get a FMQ foot. Check your accessories. If your machine came with a walking foot then it may well have also come with a FMq foot. That foot has a spring on the shank and either clear oval or open piece on the "foot" part. If not then it is well worth the investment. Quilting on Log cabin quilt can be done easily with straight line stitching using walking foot. But still check out FMQ foot.for other projects.

I do straight line quilting and gentle curves with my walking foot. I also find it particularly helpful for doing stitch-in-the-ditch as it rides on top of the uneven seam sides better than my regular feet do. I have also used it when I am working on a very heavy or thick quilt (like a T-shirt quilt) to do every bit possible, even some curvy stuff, because it is so much easier to control the weight of a thick quilt under a grippy walking foot than it is under a slidy FMQ foot. My walking foot doesn't have the right configuration to do side-to-side stitches - I may have to look into that possibility!

You can do a lot of interesting quilting using just straight lines. I built up my machine quilting courage using a walking foot, and only started FMQing after I got comfy handling the quilt bulk etc under the (more forgiving) walking foot.

And welcome to the Board from North Carolina!

Alison

Thanks all. I do have a FMQ foot and have used it on a wall hanging , but the machine's one drawback is that the tension totally messes up with free motion sewing. I have to set the tension super tight and can hear the thread stretching. I go super slow and move the fabric at the correct time in the machine's motion, but the stretching of the thread is bothersome. I read somewhere else on this board about this machine and some fixes that have worked for others, I just need to try them. If all else fails, I can free motion on my old machine. I think I'm going to make a table runner this weekend and try out the walking foot. Hey, gotta use all the feet on the new machine to get it broken in properly! :)

If you can give us machine specifics, there will most likely be somebody here on the board who can give you some helpful hints.

I mostly do "straight line" stitching with a walking foot, but use a decorative stitch such as serpentine.

I have a Brother cs6000i. I found a thread on the tension issues here somewhere before.

So you can use decorative stitches with a walking foot - not just plain ol' straight stitches? If so, that could be fun!

Usually when FMQ, you have to lessen the pressure on the foot, although I don't know if that's the reason for your problems that you have.

When you do FMQ are you dropping the feed dogs? I do not think that FMQ should make the tension go wacky. Call the dealer or the manufacture of this machine for helpful hints for adjusting tension. and FMQ.

Yes, the feed dogs are down. I've looked online a lot and this is the biggest negative of the machine, but people seem to be able to work through it by making the tension tight, changing needle location (side versus center), using metal bobbins, and using new needles. I might try using a different foot and see if that helps too.

I many times have used my walking foot to do decorative stitches as the quilting...my favorite is the feather stitch, but depending on your machine, you may have many stitches that would work good for machine quilting. Maybe make a sandwich of fabric and batting and try out some of the decorative stitches that you have.

Check this out!
http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/1...king-foot.html

Thanks! I decided to make a small log cabin table runner this weekend just so I can use the walking foot. I'm excited to get to the quilting part!

Have noticed that some walking feet have a single hole for the needle to go through. If you want todo zigzag you will need a footplate on the walking foot with a rectangle hole for the needle to jump from side to side for a zigzag.
If doing straight stitches I was taught to go up and down in different directions same as sewing seams.