Free motion quilting on a 301
 

I have been trying to free motion quilt on my Janome 63??? and am getting very frustrated. Sure it is me, as a friend does it on hers all the time without the problems. At any rate, I am dying to try it on my vintage girls and have read on here that the 301 does a nice job. I do not have a hopping foot for this machine. I am wondering if I can get one, and where. Also, any tips on this endeavor before I get started would be greatly appreciated. I get frustrated easily, so my biggest battle is with myself!! TIA Onalee Rose

I FMQ on my 301's all the time, but I do get skipped stitches. So, I find that the best way for me to do it, is put the pedal to the metal and stitch at top speed. I get very small stitches that way, but no skipping. You can get the foot from Sew Classic.

I paid more for my foot from april1930sshoppe, but I love it. AnnieRose FMQs without any problem. I just did a 80 by 84 lap quilt without one loop, pucker or anything. I know that's a big lap quilt, but it just keep growing. It was fun thread painting the animals in the quilt. I'm thinking it was $18.95 with free shipping for the foot. Today AnnieRose has a Spicy Spiral table runner on board.

How does the hopping foot work? Is it the same as a darning foot? Have you seen Dave McCallum's short video of doing free motion with a Featherweight? Here is the link...they are using a hopping foot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK3UK...layer_embedded

I would say that's close to a queen size lap quilt!! LOL I haven't tried FMQ on my Ida yet. Maybe this Spring I'll get around to it.

Thank you guys. I ordered the foot from Sew Classic. Of course that's not all I ordered. LOL. Thanks for the youtube video. I like to see that stuff, but my internet at home does not allow it. Too slow. Once I get proficient with the free motion, I want to do some thread painting.