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.

the screw on my walking foot keeps coming loose as well, I'm just trained myself to tighten it every hour or so. If it was loose and shifted, it could have bent/broken your needle and that jarring might have bent the walking foot as well.

sounds like you've tried out everything, and not sure what the issue is. If you purchased it at your brother dealer, it should be compatible with your machine, but you might want to take the machine in and let them see what happened - they might have some other ideas. but that might have to wait till after the Christmas rush, huh?

Try sewing slower (remember you're quilting faster with a machine and a walking foot than by hand)

and

get rid of the pins as they start to come up on the machine bed. It's a habit to develop is you want to stop running over pins.

I have had my walking foot on all three machines and none of them ever broke. What kind of machine do you have. I don't understand why they would break.

Thanks for bringing this up. I also have a Brother machine and am wanting to get a walking foot. Guess I need to look at how well made they are. The picture I saw on the internet search looked a bit questionable as to sturdiness.

I have used walking feet on a variety of machines & have never had one break. one thing that can happen--you might have threads on the back of the quilt that are catching on something & momentarily giving a hiccup to the stitching. this might cause the needle to hit at wrong time or wrong spot. my machine is set in a table, but I have one rounded spot where the quilt sometimes catches slightly. also, if you are quilting on a machine without a table, the weight of the quilt could be coming into play as you stitch.pulls the fabric slightly out of line & causes thread of needle breakage.

Yes, smitty. I have had those problems...the 'hiccup' and the weight of the quilt dragging the fabric. My machine isn't set into a table and that means stopping many times to adjust the weight. Perhaps that is what happens...the weight pulls the fabric and/or needle slightly.
Quilting a 80 something x 90 something inches quilt on a small machine is a hassle to say the least.
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Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions. You are all the best!