suspendedglass

Hi, I purchased a used sit down handiquilter and I love it. However it still has the closed foot and I think I have to purchase a conversion kit to in order to use the open foot. I was wondering if it is possible to still quilt with a ruler without purchasing the conversion kit? Thanks

Jazzy'sMom

I can't answer your question but thinking of purchasing a Hq handiquilter. I usually hand quilt but would love to have a quilting machine. Is it an expensive machine?

ckcowl

I use my closed foot with rulers. Just make sure you get the correct rulers. They are thicker than our cutting rulers so they stay against the foot, don’t slide under it. And, you need a ruler base for the machine so you have a flat surface to hold the ruler against.

UFOs Galore

A closed foot is for rulers. You should be fine without the conversation kit. If you want to use the thicker “Surefoot” you would need the conversion kit. Because it is a sit-down machine on a table, you don’t need a ruler base.

MsHeirloom

I converted my Tiara (same as the Sweet 16) with the conversion foot. I love it for ruler quilting. It wasn't hard. I even called the company and they helped me.

suspendedglass

I paid $2,500.00 for mine. That is canadian $. It was about 4 years old and in really great condition only the foot conversion kit had not been added. I really like it!

Watson

Yes, as above, you can use the closed toe for the quilting with 1/4" rulers. You may need the overlay, which brings the table up to the height of the foot so the ruler doesn't rock...I'm not sure with your machine, but I did with mine which is a Tiara and is the same as the Handiquilter.
The big thing about the conversion set besides allowing you the open toe is that you can change feet so you can use the couching feet and square feet and echo feet. But if you aren't into that, the original foot is just fine for ruler quilting.

Watson

suspendedglass

Thank you!

Macybaby

I never use the open toe foot. It's too easy for it to catch on things. It might seem a bit more work to get the top thread pulled through, but just take one stitch and move it and pull the threads and you are good to go.

With the conversion kit, you then have the option of using several different feet - not just the open toe.

I thought mine came with both the open and closed toe before conversion, but I may be mixed up between that and my first machine that only came with the open toe foot. Since I now have no interest in the open toe, I may not remember correctly. Will have to look when I get home.