Delving into machine quilting

I've been quilting for 17yrs. I've always been a hand quilter. Only machine quilting a few little things here and there. Like pot holders or table runners. I just enjoy hand quilting.

But things change, and due to physical problems, I haven't been able to do much hand quilting this past year or so. I have been machine piecing projects though, and have decided that this is the year to really learn how to machine quilt.

First lesson:

Make sure you use the right presser foot!!

This is the foot I use for piecing. It's just a normal foot, sews a great straight line, but doesn't sew well on thick pieces.

I sand whiched a small project and started sewing. I was using my normal presser foot to quilt with. And it was a disaster. The tension wasn't right, no matter what I did. It was still sewing tight. The foot didn't want to go over the seams very well, so kept getting caught on my fabric, which caused puckers.


Then the light bulb went off, and I remembered that I had a 'quilting' foot! It's not a walking foot. It's just this little foot, that is more open in the front and has rounded ends.

I don't know if you can see the difference in these pictures. Top one is using the quilters foot, bottom the normal foot.

The difference is amazing!! With the quilters foot, you can see in those two pictures, that my curves are better. The stitches don't get bunched together and fabric doesn't bunch up...at least not as much.


The quilters foot glides over the fabric, the tension issues are solved...well, almost (I need to adjust it just a little, the top thread peaks on the backing a little).

I don't think the quilters foot can do free motion quilting. But at least I can do some simple, straight line quilting.

I know that I need lots of practice...

Do you think this stack of pretties will give me the practice I need?? LOL

 This is only about a THIRD of the quilt tops I have, that need quilting! I should be pretty good, by the time I'm done :)

Till next time....

Dorian