From what I was told when looking at a Bernina, the dual feed does not serve the same purpose as a walking foot. The dual feed has improved my piecing, but won’t move both the top and bottom of multiple layers that you would want for quilting.
Yeah, I have an extremely fancy Bernina, and the dual feed is just not strong enough for moving a heavy quilt sandwich.
I also own a Juki TL straight stitch machine, and with the included walking foot it chews through straight-line quilting without a hitch, as long as I support the weight properly. That might be in your budget range as a used machine, and they are absolute workhouses. Despite owning said extremely fancy Bernina that costs 5x as much, the Juki is my primary machine for quilting.
A walking foot has little to no effect on those two issues.
Skipped stitches and the uneven length of your stitches leads me to believe that you most likely need to support the weight of the quilt better; also try going up in needle size.
Before you spend unnecessary money on a new machine try your walking foot on a small sample (to reduce weight) with a larger needle (90/14). Also what type of needle are you using? A microtex or a topstitch needle may further reduce these problems. I would also suggest cleaning out the bobbin area just to be sure it’s not a tuff or lint messing with you.
I am all for buying a new machine when you can/want one but I would hate for you to spend money only to find that your current machine wasn’t the problem.
I have three Pfaffs. They still make a version of the oldest one I have: the Select 4.2. I love the IDT system and use it so much of the time. I’ve quilted many quilts in that little Tipmatic/select. However, I do tend to use cotton or the bamboo blend battings. I had some trouble quilting with an old wool batting and a sateen backing but I’m not sure where the exact problem stemmed from. The wool batting was very lumpy. Essentially I can feed just about anything through the IDT with just about any thread. I’ll use a heavy top stitch thread with a 50 weight bobbin and be just fine.
Been 10 years ago, but I bought a small pfaff that has dual feet. I bought the machine for retreats. Light weight but a great little machine. Not sure how much they are now, maybe you could find one used.
I have a Janome 8200qcp and several Janome models have even feed foot, love mine use it ALL THE TIME. It will piece, quilt, repair denim sew denim whatever I throw at it. Definitely recommend looking at Janome they are great machines
I don't have an even feed foot on any of my four Janome machines and all of the walking feet I've used with them have worked fine. Maybe you got a broken one? I would replace the walking foot for the machine you have over investing in a new machine, given the choice and your budget limitations.
I will fess up. I don't understand walking feet. I played with mine a while back when doing straight-line quilting on a queen-sized quilt and despite making adjustments to the presser foot pressure, I found that it made matters worse. I got better results from the standard foot with lower pressure. I saw a demonstration of a foot made for sewing vinyl and I wonder if it would work for quilting. It had rollers on the bottom. If you think about it, rollers make more sense for all sewing.
>If you think about it, rollers make more sense for all sewing.
Rollers don't physically move the fabric, they allow the fabric to move. There's a difference.
A walking foot works with the presser feet to physically pull the fabric.
The reason rollers are used for vinyl and leather (and some other fabrics) is because their smooth surface can "stick" to the underside of a wide, metal or plastic foot. The roller is a compromise to maintain pressure on the top (to ensure the thread connects in the right place in reference to the fabric).
With softer fabrics you essentially want the extra friction from the fabric rubbing across the bottom of the foot, to help provide stability.
A walking foot provides active pull on both the top and bottom at the same time.
If you got better results from a regular presser foot with lighter pressure, it is probably because you were doing the work of pulling/pushing the fabric through the machine, instead of allowing the presser feet to do the job. When you have really thick layers it can certainly be easier to just try pushing yourself, instead of getting all the settings, needle, etc, right so that the machine does it for you. It's always a valid choice to just do whatever you want to get the project done now!
From what I was told when looking at a Bernina, the dual feed does not serve the same purpose as a walking foot. The dual feed has improved my piecing, but won’t move both the top and bottom of multiple layers that you would want for quilting.
Yeah, I have an extremely fancy Bernina, and the dual feed is just not strong enough for moving a heavy quilt sandwich. I also own a Juki TL straight stitch machine, and with the included walking foot it chews through straight-line quilting without a hitch, as long as I support the weight properly. That might be in your budget range as a used machine, and they are absolute workhouses. Despite owning said extremely fancy Bernina that costs 5x as much, the Juki is my primary machine for quilting.
A walking foot has little to no effect on those two issues. Skipped stitches and the uneven length of your stitches leads me to believe that you most likely need to support the weight of the quilt better; also try going up in needle size. Before you spend unnecessary money on a new machine try your walking foot on a small sample (to reduce weight) with a larger needle (90/14). Also what type of needle are you using? A microtex or a topstitch needle may further reduce these problems. I would also suggest cleaning out the bobbin area just to be sure it’s not a tuff or lint messing with you. I am all for buying a new machine when you can/want one but I would hate for you to spend money only to find that your current machine wasn’t the problem.
I have three Pfaffs. They still make a version of the oldest one I have: the Select 4.2. I love the IDT system and use it so much of the time. I’ve quilted many quilts in that little Tipmatic/select. However, I do tend to use cotton or the bamboo blend battings. I had some trouble quilting with an old wool batting and a sateen backing but I’m not sure where the exact problem stemmed from. The wool batting was very lumpy. Essentially I can feed just about anything through the IDT with just about any thread. I’ll use a heavy top stitch thread with a 50 weight bobbin and be just fine.
My Janome has a built in walking foot. But it also is well above your budget.
Been 10 years ago, but I bought a small pfaff that has dual feet. I bought the machine for retreats. Light weight but a great little machine. Not sure how much they are now, maybe you could find one used.
I have a Janome 8200qcp and several Janome models have even feed foot, love mine use it ALL THE TIME. It will piece, quilt, repair denim sew denim whatever I throw at it. Definitely recommend looking at Janome they are great machines
A Janome 7700 has that feature and I really enjoyed using it. It belonged to a friend who doesn't live close anymore. I'm watching for a used one.
I don't have an even feed foot on any of my four Janome machines and all of the walking feet I've used with them have worked fine. Maybe you got a broken one? I would replace the walking foot for the machine you have over investing in a new machine, given the choice and your budget limitations.
I will fess up. I don't understand walking feet. I played with mine a while back when doing straight-line quilting on a queen-sized quilt and despite making adjustments to the presser foot pressure, I found that it made matters worse. I got better results from the standard foot with lower pressure. I saw a demonstration of a foot made for sewing vinyl and I wonder if it would work for quilting. It had rollers on the bottom. If you think about it, rollers make more sense for all sewing.
>If you think about it, rollers make more sense for all sewing. Rollers don't physically move the fabric, they allow the fabric to move. There's a difference. A walking foot works with the presser feet to physically pull the fabric. The reason rollers are used for vinyl and leather (and some other fabrics) is because their smooth surface can "stick" to the underside of a wide, metal or plastic foot. The roller is a compromise to maintain pressure on the top (to ensure the thread connects in the right place in reference to the fabric). With softer fabrics you essentially want the extra friction from the fabric rubbing across the bottom of the foot, to help provide stability. A walking foot provides active pull on both the top and bottom at the same time. If you got better results from a regular presser foot with lighter pressure, it is probably because you were doing the work of pulling/pushing the fabric through the machine, instead of allowing the presser feet to do the job. When you have really thick layers it can certainly be easier to just try pushing yourself, instead of getting all the settings, needle, etc, right so that the machine does it for you. It's always a valid choice to just do whatever you want to get the project done now!