Free Motion Feet: Observations

Free motion feet can make all the difference in the success you'll have for various techniques.  Above, two of my favorite feet for my Berninas, the #29 plastic foot, and the #24 embroidery foot.  Each is perfect for various types of free motion quilting.

Both have a built-in spring so there is a gentle "hopping" action as the foot releases and then presses down as each stitch is made.  This not only creates an excellent stitch but gives you the feeling that feed dogs are working and you are not skating alone on the ice. 

If there is too much of the up/down action, decreasing the pressure on the foot with a control on the machine itself smooths everything out and will let you move the quilt more easily as well.  This works for thicker batts, excess puff you need to work in, bulky seams in pieced work.

Open toe or not?  I love my open toe foot for the precise type of quilting I do.  I need to see exactly where the needle is, where I am stitching over a previous line of quilting, if it is in the right place.  A closed toe would make it so hard to see these crucial points, and I would become tense and aching, hoping to hit the line or design point "just right."  A closed toe foot prevents this great visibility.  Tiny clamshells with a closed-toe foot are almost impossible for me, but easy with an open-toe foot.

However, if there are long smooth lines of quilting needed such as the spines/centers of feathers then I like the closed toe foot that seems to be designed to keep everything smooth and even, like an embroidery hoop around the needle.  It distributes the puff of the batt perfectly, and keeps the fabric from creeping along and forming little ripples between two line of opposite direction quilting. 

For stay stitching at the edge of the quilt or any straight line quilting done free motion in the quilt I love my closed toe #29 foot.  It makes the job easier.  But, as I quilt, I look ahead of the needle, not the needle itself.

Recently in my Paducah classes I saw the new Janome foot, below, photo by Ann Fahl and used with her permission. 

This foot comes with three options for the base, an open toe, a closed toe, and a large circular plastic foot with rings in it used as guides for spacing free motion quilting such as echo quilting.

What attracted my eye immediately to it was the built-in way to adjust it in the spring itself, on the foot itself.  Instead of adjusting how tight the foot sits on the quilt, you can easily change the foot itself to float more easily, to eliminate the hopping action, and glide instead, whatever you like.  It worked very well for those who had it on their Janomes.

Sometimes we don't realize the right tool will do the job better and make quilting so much easier and more relaxing.

Looking at these photos you can tell there is a more unobstructed view with my Bernina feet too. 

See what your machine has available.  Investigate.  Try out something new, or something you've had all along but is now in the back of some drawer.  And keep informed with what your brand of machine has available.  Sometimes, like the Janome foot, there is a new tool for you that is super. 

Visit your brand's website, join a forum online, go to your dealer and browse, but use your own best judgment about what will work best for your style of work.

Oliver likes the #29 foot best to kitty-hockey around the sewing room.  Sigh.

Keep quilting!  Your work gets better every day.

Diane

Speeding

Faster than a speeding locomotive…. Is that how fast I should machine quilt? I get asked this so frequently and usually say “quilt as fast as you can, yet still feel comfortable and in control, and maintain quality in your work.” This is not a race!

We all have different standards in our work, so what is “in control” for one seems totally ridiculous for someone else. Some quilters quilt slowly at one consistent speed on the machine, pacing hand movements to keep stitches consistent and even, working at a smaller scale. Others do the “pedal to the metal” method and may have mild anxiety attacks keeping up with their speeding machines, and tend to quilt in a larger scale. Speed is a very individual thing, no right or wrong.

Your friend or everyone on your quilting forum might tell you to speed up and you’ll be better! Another friend will say slow down, you’ll be better! Actually, you have to listen to your own needs, personality, and quilting style, and then, you’ll be better.

I use all speeds in my quilting. I learned to quilt by applying the same kind of operating methods with my sewing machine that I used for sewing garments, or for piecing quilts. If it was a long smooth seam, I pressed that pedal and went fast, guiding the fabric with my hands, letting the feed dogs make the even stitches.

Sometimes I would back off on the foot control, when I needed to sew carefully, stitch by stitch. Inserting a collar, setting in a sleeve, sewing on a patch pocket—all techniques I did much more slowly. In piecing, just the same. Some long strips could be sewn together at a fast speed, yet setting in a “Y” seam needed a more cautious approach.

Naturally when I began to do free motion machine quilting I used these same sewing machine operating techniques and still do. I quilt faster now, because it is second nature to me, and repetition makes everything easier after awhile. But I still slow down when I get into tricky places, have to really nail a difficult design, or when I’m doing particular designs that might need more care to get them right.

And that means slowing down both the speed of the machine, and my hands. Many quilters slow their hands, that’s natural when there is a tricky spot or you can’t quite see, but fail to slow the machine as well. Larger galloping stitches are the result. Hands and foot must work together to create beautiful stitches.

Some designs I still do at one even speed, like “Diane-shiko,” a background fill done on a marked 1/2" grid, below, that I use in place of traditional cross-hatch grids. Even with this one-speed design, after I’ve quilted it for awhile at a session, I find that I am quilting faster than when I began. You get comfortable, into a rhythm, and learn where to look to allow you to go a bit faster---and maintain the same quality.






Most of my students tend to move their hands too fast, and run the machine too slowly. Learn to run the machine a bit faster, and slow down your hands for beautiful, even stitches.

Some are very, very fast quilters indeed. If you experience a sense of glee at your fast speed, and look at your finished quilting and like the results, then you are in the right speed zone.

Never apologize or worry about the speed YOU use. Do what is comfortable for you. The quality of a quilt is not based on how long it took you to quilt it, but the final outcome. Enjoy the journey.

News! My little red silk "quiltlet" pictured at the top of the post is now available for purchase with a bid now. Proceeds go to support the "Sew Red" campaign by Bernina, for the American Heart Association. It is about 9" x 12" on red silk dupioni, quilted freehand in red silk thread. The central motif is one of the original designs I did for the Bernina 830, only this one was done free motion with a little artistic license. If you are interested in more information, contact Bigsby's Sewing Center, 262-785-1177 or by email: bigsbyssewing@sbcglobal.net. We all thank you for your support. It's a beautiful little quilt.


Information on "Diane-shiko" is in my book, Quilt Savvy - Gaudynski's Machine Quilting Guidebook.

Happy quilting,
Diane