kimg

I have a question. My machine is a Pfaff and has the IDT. I have read that I do not need to have a walking foot in order to do FMQ. Can someone tell me which foot I should use instead? I am trying to learn. I have done some SITD and straight line quilting, and now it is time to branch out. I am not sure I will ever mater FMQ. I have been looking at Leah Day's videos. I just love her calm and detailed manner. Let me know if you have any tips for a newbie to FMQ.

ckcowl

you use a free motion (darning foot) for free motion quilting- a walking foot is for straight line quilting like stitch in the ditch.
a darning foot (sometimes called a hopping foot) is round- and...hops up and down- without pressure on the sandwich- making it easy to move around (free motion)

sparkys_mom

I love Leah Day's site, also. She is just great. You would use a darning foot for FMQ. Leah has quite a bit about that on her site. With FMQ you either lower your feed dogs or cover them. The walking foot uses the feed dogs on the machine for the underside of your quilt sandwich and has it's own feeding mechanism for the upper side. The whole idea of FMQ is to be able to move your quilt freely in any direction - you can't do that with a walking foot.

sewmary

For stitch in the ditch use the IDT> There is a Pfaff foot that came with my machine - I don't know the number but has a part underneath it that rides along in the ditch. If I don't use that, I just use an open toe foot so I can see where I am going.

For FMQ, yes to the darning foot. Disengage the IDT. Drop the feed dogs.

Sewfine

Use the clear darning foot shaped like a jelly bean.

kimg

Thanks....after I posted this I found Leah's video that addressed that. I think this is going to take LOTS of practice. Does anyone have a recommendation for a free motion pattern that might be easy to do? I am thinking of starting with just a basic stippling.

kimg

Oh my goodness....I just tried and got a big loopy mess. It is so hard to control the stitch length and the design at the same time. My machine has a built in stitch that looks like stippling. I think I will do that for now. I had tried FMQ before without the loopy mess, but this time that is what I got. I really hate messing with my tension a lot. My machine sews like a dream. Maybe I should take a class sometime. Can anyone give me any pointers?

JADE D

To avoid the 'loopy mess' bring the boobin thread up before you start to FMQ.

JADE D

sorry, that was supposed to be bobbin thread.