Question about walking foot attachment

Comment

Comment by Cat Lady--MO on January 31, 2009 at 9:30am

The walking foot is also called an "even feed" foot, as it lifts the pressure foot in rhythm with the feed dogs. Some of the newer machines have a built in walking foot, and I know a number of quilters who use it all the time for their piecing. My machine is old enough that I had to purchase a separate walking foot attachment. My earlier machine had a roller on one of the pressure feet that acomplished the even feed. I use the walking foot quite a bit when I am machine quilting, especially when I am doin stitch in the ditch. I also use it to baste the edges of the quilt together before I sew on the binding, especially if I have not quilted all the way to the edges of the quilt.

Comment by cottagequilter on January 31, 2009 at 7:03am

I use my walking foot mainly for machine quilting. I have recently purchased a book titled "Foolproof Machine Quilting" where you can learn to use your walking foot to a greater degree of machine quilting. I have a lot of trouble doing free motion quilting (no stitch regulator), and I like the way I have more control with the walking foot. This book shows how to do decorative stitching with the walking foot and paper cut patterns (which is how I learned to make patterns 25 years ago). Hope this helps.

Comment by Ann Parise on January 31, 2009 at 7:00am

I resisted the walking foot for sometime, I heard from a very seasoned quilter it prevents the back from rippling. at first I was intimidated (even had difficulties attatching it; try it, you will never be without it for machine quilting. You can continue to use a 1/4 inch foot for machine machine piecing. I only use my walking foot for quilting

Comment by Karen Heath on January 31, 2009 at 6:22am

A walking foot is a great tool for sewing multiple layers together. I bought mine for machine quilting. Works well for sewing on the bias as well as stitch in the ditch. The repair man is correct it will give you smoother stitching line with fewer ripples on back of quilt. Enjoy.

Comment by Paula/TX on January 30, 2009 at 8:57pm

I use a quarter inch foot with a guide on it to sew my pieced blocks. A walking foot is used for the quilting, usually straight lines like "stitching in the ditch" or simple cross hatching, and some use it when they attach the binding. Walking feet, usually bulky in size, have teeth on the bottom of the foot. They move as the needle moves and work along with your feed dog teeth to feed the "quilt sandwich" (quilt top, batting, backing), top and bottom fabric, along evenly. Free motion usually uses the machine' "darning" foot,or some may call it a free motion foot, with the feed dogs down so the fabric does not drag along the teeth. Hope this helps.

Comment by Michele on January 30, 2009 at 8:34pm

I use the walking foot when I'm putting the quilt layers together and it usually or majority of the time keeps the material from bunching up and gathering in little clumps while stitching. Otherwise I use the regular foot to piece everything for the quilt top. I've never used it for the free motion quilting, but it does great to piece the three layers together nicely. As Karen states, I hope this helps you.

Comment by Karen on January 30, 2009 at 7:53pm

I actually use my walking foot most of the time I sew. It does keep 2 layers of fabric even while feeding through. I hope this helps.