CAN YOU USE A WALKING FOOT FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Can you use a walking foot for free motion quilting is a special style of machine quilting that you can do on your home or long arm machine. The basting foot is a special foot designed to float above the surface of the quilt, allowing you to move the quilt in all directions. Thanks to the ability to move in all directions, you can create beautiful designs and patterns on the surface of your blankets.
Our quilting design gallery has hundreds of designs to play with. Free motion quilting allows the quilt to move freely in all directions. By quilting this way, you can minimize the amount you have to turn and move a large quilt in your machine, and you can quilt any shape you can. Over time, I not only learned to quilt successfully, but I taught many other ladies to do it.They have created many wonderful quilting creations for themselves and others. One project I really enjoyed doing was a charity quilting project where some ladies and I took time over the winter to make over 60 quilts for orphans.
This project was a challenge for me too due to the sheer numbers, but it was a really wonderful experience and many of the ladies who took part learned to quilt. Quilting can be quite challenging at first. The biggest challenge will be learning how to cut and sew straight! It sounds a little silly, but if you try to build quilt blocks from bias cut fabric and then sew them together, your quilt just won’t look very good.
Learn how to use basic quilting tools like a cutting wheel, cutting mat, and cutting ruler to keep your fabrics straight. Next, learn how to sew fabrics together in a straight line. Placing a piece of masking tape on the surface of your sewing machine about ¼ inch from the needle is an excellent and inexpensive guide to help you sew straight.
THE CHALLENGES OF FREE MOTION QUILTING-CAN YOU USE A WALKING FOOT FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Can you use a walking foot for free motion quilting .The challenge of free-motion quilting comes from the very essence of this style of quilting. The ability to move the quilt in all directions requires not using feeders – the teeth under the presser foot that move the quilt forward and perfectly evenly space the stitches.
If you do not use the feeders, your machine will not be able to evenly space the stitches. Instead, you’ll need to control the length and appearance of the stitch by balancing the motion of your hands moving the quilt with the speed of your foot pedal controlled machine.
For this reason, free motion quilting is challenging for many beginners. Your beautiful, balanced, evenly spaced stitches are suddenly a jumble of large and small stitches. Free motion quilting can feel completely out of control because you are suddenly responsible for moving the quilt, creating the design, and also maintaining the speed of your machine.
THREE MYTHS ABOUT FREE MOTION QUILTING- CAN YOU USE A WALKING FOOT FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Can you use a walking foot for free motion quilting .Here are some myths about free quilting as listed below.
- SPREADING WITH FREE MOVEMENT TAKES SO MUCH TIME
The best things in life take time to blossom. The same goes for working on any quilting project. The quilting stage is an equally important part and deserves the same amount of thought and attention to detail that we put into the careful selection of fabrics.
There are totally those quilters out there who just need to have something quick and easy to quilt with, I don’t get it! But if we can just intuitively know how much the quilt would shine in free motion quilting, it’s worth the time. That blanket deserves special attention! It pays to slow down and take the time to complete the project to the best of your ability. Take it day by day, push yourself stretch after stretch – it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
- STRAIGHT LINE QUILTING IS GOOD ENOUGH
Yes, straight quilting is definitely a good choice for any quilt. But you know you make some quilts that would take it to the next level if free motion quilting motifs were used to finish. Non-block repeat quilts are the main ones I’m talking about – patterned quilts, medallion quilts, English paper quilts and applique quilts will SHINE when custom quilted to show off different shapes in a quilt design.
There are also quilts that really benefit from a softer, curved quilting design that helps contrast the sharp, straight lines at the top of the quilt to create a softer visual texture. I once sent a quilt to a long armourer and asked for a triangular boxy all over design…and in retrospect I regret that decision. The quilt was my modern HST pattern and I thought the design I chose would go well with a quilt full of triangles. Instead, I feel like there is no relief now from the pointy points running across the top of the quilt and the quilting and blocks competing for attention.
- GETTING A CLASS IS EXPENSIVE
You have two options – quilt it yourself or send it to a long arm quilter. Sometimes it’s worth sending them to a long arm quilter and I’ve done a lot of that in my time.. But it’s not cheap either – for a generic all-over design, you’ll pay at least $150 for a small piece. If you want custom quilting, you’re probably looking at least double that! It cost well over $200 for this long sleeve king size quilt.
That’s why it’s worth learning to free-motion quilt yourself so that you can have quilts that not only quilt beautifully, but also save your wallet for quilts that really need an expert long-arm touch. Good classes with good teachers will be an investment. It is an investment not only of money, but also of your time and effort! But the skills and confidence you learn will last a lifetime.
MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING- CAN YOU USE A WALKING FOOT FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Club foot-Sometimes referred to as an open toe foot. There is always a spring on the base that allows the foot to move in all directions while sewing. There are a variety of feet and it might be worth trying to see what works best for you.
- Walking foot– sewing machines have feeders, which are metal handles that are located under the presser foot and whose function is to advance the fabric while sewing. The walking foot is a feeder on the top of the fabric, which allows the quilt to be spread evenly using the metal teeth of the feeders at the top and bottom.
- Quilt Table – is an attachment so that the left hand is at the same height as the right hand when guiding the fabric through the sewing machine.
- Quilted Gloves – Quilted gloves that have fingertip handles increase the controllability of the 3 layers of fabric under the machine.
SPREADING BY FREE MOVEMENT CAN BE UGLY- CAN YOU USE A WALKING FOOT FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Can you use a walking foot for free motion quilting .It shouldn’t surprise you that your first free quilting isn’t going to be pretty. This is completely normal! An essential part of mastering free motion quilting is learning to quilt those ugly stitches, figuring out how to position your hands, and always matching your quilting motion to your machine speed.
You can learn all the basics of free motion quilting at the Free Motion Basics for Beginners video workshop. This two-hour workshop will take you through all the basics of quilting on your machine, release your tension, and include several quilting projects to practice and master this tricky skill.
Another style of machine quilting is walking foot quilting, which uses the machine to feed the fabric evenly. This style of quilting doesn’t have the learning curve of free motion quilting because the foot moves the quilt and your stitches will always be perfectly balanced and evenly spaced.
A limitation of walking style quilting is that you cannot move the quilt in all directions. You must always turn the quilt so that it passes through your machine in the forward direction. This will require a lot more turning of the quilt, which can be difficult if you have a very small home sewing machine.
CONCLUSION
Can you use a walking foot for free motion quilting. Modern quilting sewing machines have more advanced features. In addition, many sellers are active on the Internet these days. This explains why choosing and buying a machine is no longer a problem. As a quilting expert, you should know what your needs are. Maybe you want a portable quilting machine that you can use anywhere, anytime. You could also look for an exclusive home sewing machine. You may want to get an electronic, computer, or manual sewing machine. There are many quilting machines here and you will hardly miss the one that suits your taste and preferences.
