How long does a walking foot last? Do you go through a lot of them? I have gone through a few. I admit I use the w/f a LOT. The latest one quit last night. The needle struck the bottom of the foot and broke; the bottom of the needle flew off somewhere....never did find it. I think the foot got stuck on a pin and dragged it out of line. It no longer works. The needle just hits the plate bottom instead of going through the hole.

I have been trying to finish some Christmas quilts and have been quilting a lot for the last week or two. Now I have to wait for a week to get a new one. I'm going to buy 2 this time. It is a downer when you're on a roll with something and then have to give up. If I start piecing another top, I may never get the quilting finished.

Enough whining. I'll just go fondle fabric.

mine have lasted a long time, but not sure how my quilting hours with the WF compares to your quilting hours. sounds like it's partly a lesson about not stitching over pins. Sorry it happened - Any chance you have another WF you can try to make sure it's the WF problem? Have you tried another foot to make sure it's not something else?

oh, and be sure to wear shoes in the room from now on or else you will find that needle end!

The straight stitch foot still works fine so I'm assuming it's the w/f. I am thinking of using the straight stitch foot to complete the quilting....not sure how that will work....any ideas on that?
No stitching over pins......I think a pin from the quilt got snagged on the back,chunky part of the foot. With a small machine and a large quilt, I sometimes have a lot of quilt bulk to the right of the needle and pins get in the way. Perhaps that wasn't it at all but somehow the w/f was pulled out of line.

My walking foot (short shank) broke where the little guide sticks in the back. It works fine though but I bought a new one. :)
Susie

are you using a generic walking foot or brand name.
Mine is still working after 25 yrs and i use it a lot.

the straight stitch foot will work OK for straight lines or very gentle curves, but almost impossible to get stippling, etc done with it because of the difference in the pressure of the foot on the quilt...straight lines even could easily result in puckers since the top layer will not move as smoothly as the bottom layer thru the needle area. One thing that might...might work, is using a foot with a roller..some machines come with one - it's designed for use with leathers and sticky fabrics like plastics...the foot actually has a small roller in it that rolls across the surface of the top fabric, creating less friction. I've never tried it, but just thought that it might work.

Back to the issue of your walking feet breaking so often - are you using the right one for your machine? there are many generics out there, and they might work fine for some brands of machines but not for others. What machine do you have and which walking foot are you using?

[quote=ktbb]the straight stitch foot will work OK for straight lines or very gentle curves, but almost impossible to get stippling, etc done with it because of the difference in the pressure of the foot on the quilt...straight lines even could easily result in puckers since the top layer will not move as smoothly as the bottom layer thru the needle area. One thing that might...might work, is using a foot with a roller..some machines come with one - it's designed for use with leathers and sticky fabrics like plastics...the foot actually has a small roller in it that rolls across the surface of the top fabric, creating less friction. I've never tried it, but just thought that it might work.

Back to the issue of your walking feet breaking so often - are you using the right one for your machine? there are many generics out there, and they might work fine for some brands of machines but not for others. What machine do you have and which walking foot are you using?[
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, you are right about the straight stitch foot. I tried it just now but the sandwich isn't feeding properly. The small area I did already has a small pucker.
I have a Brother machine and buy the w/f at the Brother dealer. It isn't marked as a Brother foot so perhaps it is just a generic brand that she keeps on hand, although she did say the w/f was for the Brother machine. Many years ago, I tried a couple of Singer brands because I didn't have access to a Brother dealer. They worked, but again they didn't last long. One thing I found with the Singer ones was that the 'attaching' screw kept coming loose as I was quilting. That wasn't a problem with the one from Brother.

Thanks. I will look to see if my machine came with an emb. or applique foot.