Have You Made A Quilt Without Using A Walking Foot?
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: northern minnesota
Posts: 2,480
You could try just basting the quilt and then "tieing" it with some sort of a stitch on your machine or even hand doing it. I don't know what stitches you have on your machine. I have used a decorative or even an eyelet stitch to tie with.
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 2,530
I have 3 or 4 walking feet, and I don't use them. I just cannot get used to them. I quilt everything using my regular/general foot. The largest I have quilted is queen sized quilts, and I don't have any issues with puckering or gaps. I do a lot of SITD, echo, cross-hatch, and wavy variations. I would think it should/could work for you.
#16
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: northern minnesota
Posts: 2,480
Different machines feed fabric differently. On some, a walking foot is almost essential. On others, they do OK without it. One way to figure out if you need a walking foot is to do a long seam where you start out with the two fabrics absolutely the same length. Then stitch, don't pin, If at the end you have an uneven end that is significant, a walking foot would probably make a big difference with feeding the fabric. Of course, changing pressure might help a bit and also pinning will help a bit. Just will be a lot less fussing with a walking foot as both pieces will feed more uniformly. If you tell us which machine you have, folks may be able to tell you what their experience has been with that particular machine.
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 372
I don't use a walking foot. I bought this foot that is like a disc that goes up and down.and is clear plastic so that you can see where it's stitching. It flattens the fabric and doesn't push the fabric forward I don't get puckers with it. I think there are several feet out there that are simliar to it. I find it expecially good to use for batting that is fluffy instead of flat.
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Posts: 927
I started doing FMQ on my quilts because it lets me rearrange the quilt to fit the space. It is easier for me than doing straight line quilting with or without a walking foot. Yes, there is a learning curve, but the results are so much easier.