Machine quilting without walking foot...not working :-(

[KayKay84]

Hi Theresa, it does make such a difference, I wouldn't have believed it! You have 5 sewing machines?? Wow  .
Thanks for the ebay tip, I'll definitely have a look there when I need something else. I'm thinking of getting a free motion foot too, now that I know it works with the interchangeable feet. I didn't even know there was a special stitch in the ditch foot.
Sadly my machine is broken right now, there is some electrical problem with the pedal  I hope my boyfriend gets it fixed soon, apparently it'll be easy to fix (not that I know anything of that stuff). I'll probably pick up my grandmother's machine tomorrow which she has offered me and hope the walking foot fits that one as well (she says it's a Singer or Pfaff and it's at least 50 years old...somehow I go from old to older where sewing machines are concerned  ).
I'd love to see a picture of your yellow and orange Singer!

[kylenstevesmom]

Sadly, I did not get the walking foot I wanted because my friend wanted a free motion foot, and the lady at the store didn't speak english so she sold him what Debra got too...  I already have a free motion foot, and frankly I'm not that great with it... I really didn't want another.  I am off to ebay to order a walking and quilt in the ditch foot....  now that I've paid my credit card down some, I can splurge!

Someday when I figure out how to load pictures on the internet I'll show you my yellow and orange Singer and I also have a cute little Kenmore (Janome) pink sewing machine I got last year for Christmas!

Most times the older machines are more efficent than the new ones...  they just don't have all the cool stitches and extras!

Good Luck with your machine!

Theresa

[Casey1201]

I was browsing around and found this thread while looking around for ways to quilt without a specialized machine. I do not have the correct feet as one would say but am looking into getting them. Just wanted to throw this blog in here, its not mine, but I found it while looking for tutorials for quilting and thought you all would also find it helpful since a lot of us are in the same boat

http://fredashive.blogspot.com/2008/02/machine-quilting-tutorial.html

[KayKay84]

Theresa, too bad you didn't get the walking foot, good luck searching on ebay!

I also have a cute little Kenmore (Janome) pink sewing machine I got last year for Christmas!

Oh my, how cool is a pink sewing machine  ? You can upload pictures here on craftster! Just go on 'my craftster' in the yellow strip above and then 'my picture hosting'.

Casey, that's a great blogpost, thanks so much! Good luck getting the feet 

So, the machine I picked up from my grans didn't exactly match my expectations. No using my walking foot with this one 
http://tidytipsy.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/isnt-she-a-beauty/
I love it though, I've always wanted one of those 

Kristina

[cjclark]

Oh! Gorgeous! Lucky you. :-)

[CraftyBikerChick]

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase.

The walking foot for my Elna was very expensive, but when I was helping a friend, she was able to get a generic walking foot for her Brother for something like $20. The only times I use it now are for stitch-in-the-ditch, sewing on the binding, or when working with fleece.

I much prefer the free-motion or darning foot (these are the same thing as far as I can tell) with the feed dogs dropped for quilting on my Elna. I have a Gracie Pro frame with a Janome long arm at my ex-boyfriend's, and he's keeping it hostage.  That uses the free motion/darning foot. The hard part is getting the hang of the timing. As someone else mentioned, if you make a small quilt sandwich with fabric you don't care so much about, you can practice keeping your machine speed and hand feeding consistent. I think you'll find you can have a lot more fun with your quilting designs.

You mentioned the fabric shifting. How do you baste it? When I'm not using my Gracie Pro and long arm, I use a home made frame from 1 X 4's (cheap to make and stores easily) and use the curved safety pins. I never had a problem with shifting fabric once I started doing it like that.

[kylenstevesmom]

That machine is TOO COOL!!!!  and in awesome shape. 

I do hope your bf gets your electric machine up and running soon though!

I still can't figure out how to post pictures.... I'll have to get my kids to show me how.

My pink machine is small and is for my quilting classes!  I thought it was cute too, and it also is really lightweight and I need that because I have a bad back.

I sewed with my orange singer the other day and it has tension issues, so I've put it away for now, and will figure out what's going on later, when I have a ton of time (okay that could be awhile, but hey I'm hopefull it will be soon!)

Have fun with your machine!!!

Theresa

[KayKay84]

Oh! Gorgeous! Lucky you. :-)

Thanks! I know  . I really love that machine! My bf has oiled it a couple of times now (it takes a while for the oil to distribute evenly through all the parts when the machine hasn't been used for a long time) and now it has stopped squeaking and runs really smoothly and quietly! It is so much quieter than the electric one!
And treadling is actually really easy and great fun  .

I much prefer the free-motion or darning foot

I definitely have to get one of those! I tried free motion without a foot (just the feed dogs down) but that won't work at all. I have an inkling though that quilting with the treadle should be a lot of fun, so I'll try getting a darning foot for  it.

As someone else mentioned, if you make a small quilt sandwich with fabric you don't care so much about, you can practice keeping your machine speed and hand feeding consistent.

Sounds so easy but I bet I'll need a lot of practice. I'd love to be able to do it though, I always admire freemotion quilting!
 

How do you baste it? When I'm not using my Gracie Pro and long arm, I use a home made frame from 1 X 4's (cheap to make and stores easily) and use the curved safety pins

I use safety pins but I'll try getting an adhesive spray I think. Somehow my basting is never good. I never heard of using a frame though!

That machine is TOO COOL!!!!  and in awesome shape

Thanks  . It is in awesome shape, considering it's over 80 years old! My gran hasn't used it in years and years but she always kept it in her spare room and made her cleaning lady dust it once a week  .