Make sure u have attached it properly

My friend was struggling with quilting a quilt she is making for her daughter because of using fat polyester batting. Most quilters use quality cotton batting such as Hobbs, W&N (found @ JAF) or Dream cotton. You just need support on your left side and behind the DSM if you are going to quilt anything bigger than a lap quilt. I pull out a drawer from my Singer sewing desk (had it for over 40 years) and place a temporary piece of wood on it and the bookcase behind me. Use anything around the house or garage: saw horses, ironing board, TV tray. Look at the old pictures of what was suggested for quilting in the early 80's: flip it onto your left shoulder !! :)

That's what i was thinking. I have a pfaff, so I don't need an even feed foot, but when I was teaching classes, students would sometimes not get the little arm on correctly and as a result the foot would not move back and forth and feed correctly - it just ended up being a bulky regular foot. You might want to check the directions with the foot to be sure how it goes on your machine. Good luck! Once you figure this out, you'll love it!

did you baste the quilt sandwich at all before you took it to the machine?
we all hate to baste, but sometimes a quilt just demands that we do.

The walking food should help pull the fabric under it; but make sure that you have the quilt supported on the sides and back. My sewing table, such as it is, is against a wall, then I support the quilt on the side as well. Sometimes I have used my cutting mat over my small pressing board, which makes the fabric slide easier. When the quilt is supported, it does make it easier. Hang in there, you will find the right combination to make it work. Congratulations on entering the wide, wide world of quilting, this is a great board to ask questions and get help when problems arise. Welcome aboard.

lots of tips here, don't think I can add anything ... good luck to you, frustration is the pits

I am no help to tell you what to do but I just did my first machine stitching, actually it was just stitching 2 rows around the border. I had hand quilted the quilt part. This is a king size so I thought I would do a fancy stitch around the border. Great idea but I sure learned a lot about drag. I had the machine sitting on top of my table, didn't work so well so next thing I lowered the machine in the cabinet and made a solid area around the machine. This did help, then I grabed my gloves, more help them I kept my quilt very loose so it would feed through. This was a great learning experience for me. Like you I had made a sample block and it looked perfect but the quilt its self was much different. Good luck and welcome to the board. It will be your best friend.

Welcome to the board, Kate! I am in Kansas, and want to tell you I hope your quilt does well on your straight line quilting.
Hope you have as much fun as I have and make as many good friends as I have! Know you will!
Mariah.

I have a brother sew machine and I have not had any success with a walking foot. I just don't adjust anything to do straightline stitching and even some curves and it works for me.
So, I can't give you any advice, but glad you like quilting. I love the quilting board and have gained so much from its members.

I think I have a polyester batting; I threw away the packaging but it sure feels like it. I have the tension down to 2, (0 is the lowest on my machine) but ended my struggle with the quilt for the night before trying even less tension. I will try that tomorrow. I found supporting it does help so maybe tension is the key...