What a difference a foot makes!
 

I purchased the floating (?) non-hopping (?) not-sure-what-to-call-it foot for my machine to do FMQ with and what a difference from my old hopping foot! Curves are much smoother and everything just feels so much easier.

If you're using a hopping foot and can save your pennies for one of these, I suggest you do!

Watson

do you have a picture or a link? sounds interesting

yes indeed love the floating foot ,my machine (brother 2500D) came with the reg hopping foot fmq for years with it just didn't like but delt with it..........then i got my machine upgraded to 2800D and the floating foot was part of the package, been in love with it ever since....... I was all set to get sit down quilting machine and in researching them they all have a hopping foot type action so i stop wanting to buy one for that reason. I agree with you the floating foot is so much nicer i can see more of where i'm going.Wish they would have it on the sit down models

What is a floating foot? Can you please post a picture or a link to one? Google was no help with this!

Do you mean a darning foot?? Any FMQ foot does a hop in order for you to be able to move the quilt.

Leah Day did have a fix for a FMQ foot that turned a hopper into a glider. I'd assume a bought foot would do the same, except I haven't seen a manufactured one except for the ruler ones.

I have 3 different feet. I did the Leah Day thing with a plastic foot and rubber band, I had bought a true open toe for the 1500, and the Juki has the 1/4 and 1/5 feet. The Juki apparently are adjustable.

Can't post a pic right now as I'm away from home but Janome offers a combination free motion quilting foot that just glides across the fabric. Makes a huge difference. Pics to follow.

This is the set for the Janome 6500P (Singer S18, which is what I have)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]542313[/ATTACH]

The difference between it and the hopping foot is the bar that sticks out of the one I'm holding and fits over the needle bar of your machine. That's what makes it "hop".
[ATTACH=CONFIG]542314[/ATTACH]

And, here's how Leah Day makes her own.... http://leahday.com/pages/break-your-darning-foot
Watson

Hey Maniac,
You can now get FMQ feet that don't hop, they don't touch the surface, they just sort of skim along or hover just slightly above it so you can move the fabric. Some ruler feet (like the westalee foot) also work this way. They really do make it much easier to FMQ. The trick is to get them adjusted properly. If they're too high off the fabric, then the needle will pull the fabric up and cause skipped stitches. If they're too low, then it's hard to move the fabric.

On my old Brother, when you did FMQ or embroidery, you didn't use a foot at all, just the needle. I remember thinking how easy it would be to sew my fingers back then LOL!

Rob