patdesign

The best foot for older machines is the low or slant shank gauge presser foot, and I have never seen a high shank one, but there is probably one out there. I think you can find them on ebay if you are patient and willing to pay the price. The beauty of these is that there are little bars that are inserted in to the back of the foot and they allow you to make the seam size exactly what you want it to be, some of the newer 1/4 inch feet are larger than 1/4 inch and are definitely not capabale of producing a scant 1/4 inch seam. I have a little foot, but find that the plastic feet drag on my fabrics even when I lessen the presser foot pressure so I love the gauge presser foot. :-D

Traditional

Are you able to move your needle to right /left?
Move one position to the right if you have a 1/4" foot for a scant quarter seam. Always check to make sure you will clear the hole by manually taking the needle down after move it to avoid breaking the needle.

Mslv2qlt

I have a Littlefoot on my Featherweight and love it. Just google it and it comes up.

Annaleehunter

I have never heard of a Littlefoot... Will Google, thanks!

Maia B

If you are making a sampler quilt or any project with blocks or units that are not all the same, you do need an accurate 1/4". It's not going to work to just say all the seam allowances are the same. Why? Because a block with 10 seams will shrink or grow by twice as much as a block with 5 seams. Candace is right that the thread, fabric, pressing, and initial seam allowance all affect the finished size of your block. And don't forget the cutting! To me fretting over the 1/4" seam makes more sense than stretching blocks and dealing with puckers and wavy borders later. Getting back into quiltmaking after several years with very little production, mostly quilting tops made previously, I find I'm practically back at square one