To do free motion quilting, you need to be able to drop your machine's feed dogs or cover them up somehow. Some quilters can use a darning plate that covers the feed dogs. You want to be able to prevent the feed teeth (feed dogs) from grabbing and feeding the fabric through the machine. You need to manipulate the fabric freely in all directions under the needle.

The ability to set the stitch size to 0 is also a plus. Read your manual that came with your machine to see what it says about "darning" and lowering the stitch size.

I understand your point about not wanting to invest in expensive equipment, but you may change your mind when you understand how much easier quilt making can be - and how much more enjoyable - on an modern sewing machine. Many quilters start out on beginner or older model machines, but if they make a lot of quilts and start to sell some of their work, they realize they deserve the best machine their budget can afford. Also, good sewing machine shops often have gently used machines that are a step up for not as much money as a new machine.

All the best,
Teresa

What Teresa said, plus use a large needle and go slow! You'll probably also need to loosen the top thread tension a bit. I didn't have any luck with FM on my Brother machine until I slowed down its speed and tried to be patient. If you go too fast you pull too hard on the needle and you'll break thread and needles a lot. Also, relax and take frequent breaks to stretch and look out the window to refocus and rest your eyes.

Donna

Donna, When you say 'large needle', what size?

SharonF/FL-MN

Jen, I'm there too! I have a Kenmore from 1970 that won't let me fit any other kind of foot on it because of the handy-dandy quick change screw it has. And I'm too cheap at this point to buy a new machine until the new free motion gizmos have the bugs worked out if I decide I want one. So I was going through the machine's manual looking for some idea of how to do free motion when I came to the page on darning. It said to take the foot off, put the foot lever down, and drop the feed dogs. So I thought: the manual says I can do this--what have I got to lose? So I made up a quilt sandwich with fusible batting made for wall hangings, hand basted it (newby here), set up the machine, gave it and me a pep talk, and we were off! It worked! Probably mostly because the sandwich was pretty firm and didn't pull up with the thread. Made minor adjustments in the top thread tension. Got excited! I had bought a printed wall hanging at Wal-mart that was of a bear family and was in mostly dark colors with a lot of black in the border. After reading some of the info about machine quilting on this forum, I loaded the machine with dark monofilament on top and black cotton on the bottom. It was so much fun outlining the bears, rocks, trees, pine cones, and it was small enough to fit through the machine easily and to finish before the flush of victory faded. It now hangs on the living room wall of our cabin. Thank goodness for all that black hiding the mistakes--I mean characterization. I think I'll try free motion for stitching in the ditch as well. While I plan to replace the old machine someday with one made for quilting--bigger throat area, needle down feature, etc.--I figure I could do larger quilts in sections so I wouldn't have to fit the whole thing through the hole. There's a lot of info here and on the net using the terms "quilting in sections" and "quilt as you go".

So GO JEN! Master that machine! Start small and practise! And remember the pics! We love pics!

Sharon C.

Jenn ,i quilted a king size quilt on my bernina,and i did all the things the other ladies suggested.I also placed an ironing board to the left of me to help hold the weight of the quilt.I did it,but swore i'd never do another.My shoulders hurt for a couple days after.For me and this is just my own personal opinion,i'd rather spend the money and send them out.They did a much better job and a lot faster than i could using a homwe machine.

I have a top ready to go out now,but i have to get my car smogged and registered first.
Good luck,what ever you do,
Kathi

I have attempted free motoin on a small machine. And it is EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING. There is just NO ROOM to move that quilt and it won't move well. My machine sits up on the table and no matter how much I think I have the quilt area I'm working on ready to "move freely" -- one moment it's gliding, the next it just HANGS. On what? Who knows. But the results are JERKY lines.

I have decided to pretty much limit my machine quilting to straight lines for large quilts and play around with free motion on small things like pot holders and placemats.

I am considering "quilt as you go" if I really want free motion in a larger machine (where you quilt part of the quilt and then add to it), and considering buying the below contraption. It's $90. I believe a quilting frame and probably a long arm machine will be necessary if I ever want to REALLY get into free motion quilting but for now I don't have room for the frame and don't want to invest that much money until I have more free time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Quilter

Thanks for asking this Jen...I wondered what that plate with the hole in it was for! now I know (darning plate) I think I used it once, like in 1980!lol...and I'm gonna try free motion...sounds like fun!
great tips!
Lynn

I have a sewing machine from Walmart and do a lot of FMQ on it. You do not have to have an expensive machine to FMQ.

Just wanted to mention to try FMQ WITHOUT the feed dogs lowered. I actually find I do better this way and have heard other quilters say the same thing.

The most important key to learning FMQ is practice, practice, practice! It took a good week of playing with stippling/ meandering before it even began to resemble something close to curves!

Happy Quilting,
Jennifer

Laura,
A word odf advice.Before you plunk down your money for that,check around and see if you know someone that has it and what they think.

I know the designer and seller of this and several ladies from our guild bought it and were very dissappointed with it.Larry,the designer had it set up at the store they had here in O'side,and i tried it out there as well.It was not all he said it was.You have to keep taking your quilt off and re-positioning it.It's not much better than using your machine as it is.JMO and what the other gals in the guild said. IMO it's more trouble than it's worth.
Kathi

Thanks everyone, your responses are terrific (and some of the descriptions of your own experiences made me laugh).

I think I am putting the cart before the horse, LOL. I have started 2 quilt tops (in the 80s) but never finished them. I think I should first finish a quilt or two, and learn the basics and improve them with practice, before I even THINK about fancy free-motion anything!

Soon I will be starting a quilt-as-you-go lap quilt using strips. I picked up the instructions for this at the Road to California quilt show in January and I thought, hey, this sounds like one I can actually finish! But do you think even this size (lap) is too big for my machine? Since you start in the middle and work out toward the ends, I'd need to roll up only half the length of the quilt under the arm. Is this going to drive me crazy?

So..... I think I'll learn the basics, finish a quilt or two, and then see if it makes me crazy before I think of going much further. I love sewing and needlework and have done them for years, but the big projects that take months/years to complete seem too daunting for me... I want to move on to something else before they are done.

Thanks for the great advice and pep talks! :-)

Jen

I have a Brother 6000 and tried free motion quilting for the first a few minutes ago and it didn't turn out to bad, I guess you just have to practice,but it was fun. Good luck and keep practicing, Iamm

Kathi, Thanks for the advice, that is good to know. I didn't know anyone who has one but read a review about it that made it sound great.

But are you sure it's the same thing 'cause the one I'm looking at comes out of Oklahoma. ???

I am aware that I'd have to keep repositioning the quilt (which very well might make me nuts) but I think the big problem I have that I thought it would solve is that my machine sits up on my table and the base creates a drag on the quilt.

I bought one of those teflon slider things, and maybe I got a "cheap" one -- but it was MUCH smaller than I expected, it was the size of a piece of copy paper. It was a hassle to put on and didn't help much and later there was sticky stuff all over the base of my machine where I had taped it down! ARRGGGG!

I'm thinking of building a platform around my machine with plexiglass. The challenge will be getting it the exact height of my machine bed. Anyhow, maybe I should try that first before spending $100.

I have a plexi table that I bought. They have little legs that have an inner part that screws up or down to fit the height you want. Maybe this is something that you could find at a big hardware chain. That could solve your height concern,Laura.

Kelly (NH)

I am bumping this one back up to the top, since the information will be useful to a beginning quilter.

I just remembered that I was able to get an adapter for my Kenmore that allowed me to use different feet. One was a darning foot with a spring, others were the plastic ones like 'Pearls & Lace' that come with different ways to attach to the different machines. But this was 10/11 years ago and I don't know if they are still available.

Sometime around last November, someone here posted a site to purchase a quilting accessory kit for Kenmore machines. It was around $25 and included 4 specialized feet and a quilting guide. I bought it for the 1/4" foot and the spring loaded darning foot for free motion quilting.

Yes, I admit I have quilted on and off since I was 14 and always eyeballed the 1/4" seam (oh, the shame, the shame). Funny how now all my seams match up, incredible!

I've used the darning foot and lowered the feed dogs to FM small quilts that were spray basted. I've been happy with the results but the process would have been easier with those grippy gloves. I found myself struggling to grip bunches of fabric to move the quilt around. It was very easy when I did a small piece that fit on a large embroidery hoop because I just held the wooden ring and moved it around under the needle.

I send my larger pieces out to my friend, Eileen. She does a fantastic job and very reasonalble prices. Cheaper to send out than aggravate myself with inferior results.

Dianne

I have 2 older Kenmores and would love to be able to do some FM on them...If anyone still has the address or any information on the site for the accesory, please post again... DH keeps saying I should invest in a new machine, but I really do love my Kenmore...
Dorothy

I posted about 2 weeks ago about being able to free motion for the 1st time and that I had not covered the feed dogs. I realized that with the cover on the feed dogs and the presser foot down, the fabric was held very tightly and I was not able to slide it around. That's why it was easier without covering the feed dogs--more room to slide the fabric around. I have a basic Singer-it's about 5 years old.

I am doing FM on a small quilt right now and just had to take a break...doing stippling all over.

Reading this thread, you have given me a great idea....I have a Kenmore from the 70's and if I got an adapter for my 153 Bernina...maybe some of those feet would fit...wow would that be great as I didn't get many extras with my new machine.

Thanks for bringing this back up...got to go check this out.
Jean

A few years ago I made a quilt using Georgia Bonesteel's meathod of lap quilting by hand. I was wondering if a person could do the samething using freehand machine quilting. I have little luck FMQ other then stippling. I use the walking foot for straight quilt stitching. Even that is a challange. I use household thin rubber gloves so far with fair success.
Jayne

A few years ago I made a quilt using Georgia Bonesteel's meathod of lap quilting by hand. I was wondering if a person could do the samething using freehand machine quilting. I have little luck FMQ other then stippling. I use the walking foot for straight quilt stitching. Even that is a challange. I use household thin rubber gloves so far with fair success.
Jayne

The Kenmore quilting attachment set for vertical sewing machines includes a walking foot with quilter bar, 1/4" seam foot, darning foot and cloth guide.
The number on the box is 20 6701
The UPC number is 8 521290075 7

If purchased seperately, the walking foot alone is $24.99.

Good luck, it was a very good purchase for me!
Dianne

Here is a link that might be useful: Quilting attachment set for Kenmore machine

I do wall hanging size FMQ on an old 1970s Kenmore with great results. I release presser foot pressure and drop feeds. I also reduce upper thread tension a bit. I make a note to myself about those settings and keep it nearby as I go back to straight sewing a lot.

My FMQ teacher says to quilt in ditch first and do fancy stuff after. I suppose it depends on style of quilt really. If I stitch in ditch I just use regular sewing settings and feed dogs up.

I don't use rubber gloves now that my FMQ teacher said to use Neutrogena Norwegian Formula body emulsion lotion on my hands instead. It gives you grip without hurting fabric.

I have a modern Janome I also use but prefer the old Kenmore for the FMQ. I think the heavy weight makes it more stable. I built a table for it to make a level surface since it's basically a portable without top case on. I just used an old prefinished shelf piece about 18 x 24" and cut it out with a jigsaw from a cardboard template I made first. (I can explain to anyone who is interested.) I may make a larger one for occasional use later.

Dianne, thanks so much for the infomation...I just made the order and hopefully I'll be able to use it on 1 of my machines....I'm so excited!
Dorothy

I did my first (and only, so far, but plan to do a lot more) free motion quilting on the kitchen table, wearing very thin rubber gloves, and it was easy to grip the quilt and hold it taut while stitching. I buy these gloves by the box (something like a tissue box); they are the very thin kind that you use once or twice and then throw away, not the kind you buy for kitchen use. I only spray-basted the sandwich and then sewed a big cross on it in the ditch, end-to-end and side-to-side, right through the middle, before doing the meandering. I have to admit that it may have helped that the backing was a bit heavier than the cotton I generally use, but I didn't get a single pucker or pull.

Hmmmm. Does anyone else have one of the Kenmore 1700 models? Mine is a #1703 and the quilting set doesn't look like it would fit because of the setscrew on the needle--there's nothing to attach the arm of a walking foot to.

I found this adapter on eBay for the super high shank machines like mine--maybe others could use it . . . .

Sharon C.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kenmore pressure foot adapter