Westalee ruler kit- is it worth it?
 

I am intrigued by the designs done with the Westalee rulers. My problem is that I would have to learn to work on a different machine. My go to FMQer is a Singer 301, which is a slant needle machine. The foot for the ruler is only available in low shank, high shank and a few specialty ones for certain modern machines. I have a Necchi in a cabinet that I have used so I know it is capable for FMQ, but I love my 301. The other issue is logistics - when the Necchi is open, I can't get to the dog crates which is where they eat dinner. It sounds like if you all give the ruler good reviews, I will have to clean my sewing room to move the Necchi there.

Why not email Westalee? I have emailed them on several occassions and their responses have always been very quick and extremely helpful. They may have a solution to getting a foot to fit your 301.

I also have emailed Westalee with questions. Bill West who is the owner along with his wife asked for my phone number so he could call me ... which he did. What a great guy to talk to and he answered all my questions. He was a "fountain of knowledge" as the saying goes. He even told me that if I had any more questions to email him again and he could even call me with any problems I might have. I would buy from these people in a minute! You can order from them but they have a representative quilt shop on the west coast and the product is sent from there. So Irishrose2, I would email them, gather together any questions you might have, then wait for his call.

I would suggest using the Necchi if it has a center needle position. There are not any ruler feet available for the slant shank machines so far as I know. I do a lot of ruler work on my domestic machines and love doing it. The Westalee ruler kit that includes the ruler foot and a selection of rulers is a good deal if you want all the rulers that are included with it. I find that I tend to use my straight, circle and arc rulers more than anything, though I do have a fairly large selection of other rulers for doing specific things, like Baptist Fans, clamshells, snowflakes, curlycues etc.

I really enjoy using the rulers, and I often combine ruler work and regular FMQ in my quilts--it's a lot of fun.

Rob

I bought the starter set & 2 of their other rulers a couple of years ago from Nancy's Notions. I really like the Westalee rulers. I have since order 4 more of their rulers. They are so user friendly. They are pricey but I'm worth it!

E-mail sent. I'm sure there will be no slant foot as that type of machine isn't being made, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I know the Necchi can FMQ. I had to use it once when the 301 plug was being repaired. I just didn't want 4 machines set up in my family room. Besides, it's cabinet supports my ironing table.

Make sure your Nechi has a center needle position. One of my vintage machines use a left needle position when straight stitching. That means that the needle isn’t centered in the ruler foot, so when using the rulers, the needle is not always 1/4” away from the needle. That makes it hard to line up repeating patterns if you need to put the ruler on different sides of the foot.

Rob

The Necchi has a center needle. It is a straight stitch only machine. My only left seated machine is a Universal (pretty turquoise - looks like 56 Buick) that is looking for a good home for that reason.

I use the Westalee rulers a lot. It's fun.

I went to the Madison Quilt Expo this past September, and Nancy's Notions had the Westalee Ruler foot, 6 basic rulers, the grid to mark reference lines, the spacer guide, and a booklet that teaches you how to use the rulers by making a sampler quilt, all for 1/3 off the regular price of the kit. A woman standing next to me, when she heard me and the sales woman discussing the kit, this woman said, "Get it! Get it! That's a super price for the kit, and you will never be sorry to have the kit. The kit is wonderful!" So, I bought it, and that ruler sampler quilt will be the first project when I get my sewing room organized (we just moved back into the States from overseas, so I *can't* sew yet! :(