Rulers for Free motion quilting on sewing machine
03-19-2016, 07:34 AM
#11
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: missouri
Posts: 11,244
I recently watched a video by westalee and am waiting for my new foot and 1 of the rulers. They sure are expensive but if it works will be worth it.Glad to hear what you all think about this topic. Thanks.
03-19-2016, 10:37 AM
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Va.
Posts: 5,753
I have both the westalee ruler foot and the janome convertible version. I have used both extensively on the two domestic machines that I use for FMQ. The Westalee is on my 1981 Brother VX560 and the Janome ruler foot is on my Brother PQ1500s. It is no more difficult than FMQ on a domestic machine. The learning curve is very small and involves two things--learning to keep your ruler foot against your ruler and getting used to guesstimating where to lay the end of your ruler if you don't want to do a lot of marking on your quilt.
I use rulers when I'm doing something that is geometric and needs to have a line that isn't wiggly. For example, today I am FMQing concentric circles all over a Jacob's ladder quilt and there is no way I could make it look good without my rulers.
Rob
I use rulers when I'm doing something that is geometric and needs to have a line that isn't wiggly. For example, today I am FMQing concentric circles all over a Jacob's ladder quilt and there is no way I could make it look good without my rulers.
Rob
03-19-2016, 12:09 PM
#13
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: missouri
Posts: 11,244
I have ordered the foot and the 3" feather template oh also the one that makes moon shaped ones that can be made into a wreath shape with it. . I'm just learning fmq. I love it. I love feathers and thought this might train me on making some. Glad to have these posts. Thanks everyone. I've learned so much over the years on here.
03-19-2016, 01:59 PM
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,357
The hardest thing for me is to remember to keep the foot pressed against the ruler all the way along. For some reason I like to wander off.
Also remember that you have to add 1/4" to where the needle actually hits from the edge of your ruler.
Watson
Also remember that you have to add 1/4" to where the needle actually hits from the edge of your ruler.
Watson
04-04-2016, 12:32 PM
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Va.
Posts: 5,753
Martina, which Babylock do you have? It's possible that you could use the Janome foot--just a thought.
I like the Westalee just fine, but the Janome is a little easier to adjust once it's on your machine.
I quilted a queen sized quilt using the Westalee foot and there were times when I was at pieced intersections that were just enough thicker than the rest of the quilt to make it so the Westalee foot couldn't go over them. That was a pain since you adjust the Westalee's height above your quilt with the screw that holds it to the presser foot bar. So to go over the thick seams I had two choices, I could get the screw driver out and raise the foot just a bit every time I came to one, then I had to lower it again so it wouldn't skip stitches after I'd crossed the seam or I could raise the presser foot lever, turn the needle wheel by hand and slowly push the quilt past the lump, then lower the presser foot lever and again quilt away--guess how many times I forgot to lower the presser foot lever again LOL.
On the Janome foot there is a little thumb screw that you turn on the foot itself to raise it and lower it slightly - you can do it very quickly if you need to without having to disrupt your quilting to get the screw driver out and without having to raise the presser foot lever.
Rob
I like the Westalee just fine, but the Janome is a little easier to adjust once it's on your machine.
I quilted a queen sized quilt using the Westalee foot and there were times when I was at pieced intersections that were just enough thicker than the rest of the quilt to make it so the Westalee foot couldn't go over them. That was a pain since you adjust the Westalee's height above your quilt with the screw that holds it to the presser foot bar. So to go over the thick seams I had two choices, I could get the screw driver out and raise the foot just a bit every time I came to one, then I had to lower it again so it wouldn't skip stitches after I'd crossed the seam or I could raise the presser foot lever, turn the needle wheel by hand and slowly push the quilt past the lump, then lower the presser foot lever and again quilt away--guess how many times I forgot to lower the presser foot lever again LOL.
On the Janome foot there is a little thumb screw that you turn on the foot itself to raise it and lower it slightly - you can do it very quickly if you need to without having to disrupt your quilting to get the screw driver out and without having to raise the presser foot lever.
Rob
04-04-2016, 12:50 PM
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Posts: 1,653
I too watched the Craftsy class and Pasty Thompson's class and they are both good. I purchased a Westalee set which had a bunch of different rulers and the special foot. If you have a low shank foot you can't use the 1/4" thick rulers for a long arm, at least not 360 degrees around the foot. Westalee has rulers that are thinner but still thicker than a rotary ruler. You need to put tape or sandpaper dots on the back of the ruler to hold it in place when you use it. Just like fmq, I think there's a learning curve to use rulers while fmq. I too have a BOM I'm planning on using the rulers on, but haven't done so yet. I haven't even practiced yet. Maybe one of these days, that'll happen.
I ordered from AllBrands.com.
I ordered from AllBrands.com.
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