Ruler foot question

[DeniseSm]

I am trying ruler foot quilting today for the first time. I am using the Westalee ruler foot with a Brother 1500 straight stitch only machine. I used the Westalee adjustment guide to set the height of the ruler foot. It seems like it is just above the top surface of the quilt sandwich. It is actually a very tight fit at intersections where there is a lot seam build up ( I have to drag it through to get it to fit.) My problem is that I am getting a lot of skipped stitches. When I switch back to my free motion foot that came with machine (the foot hops up and down) the skipped stitches immediately stop.

Any advice on what to do to avoid the skipped stitches when using a ruler foot would be appreciated. Thanks

[201 Treadler]

Re: Ruler foot question

here is a link to a demo on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urr8um-hesI made in june 2018, there are others on sq
Angela Atwood demonstrates the westalee system 4.19 onwards 12.27 starts to show machine

hope someone can advise you further.

[Caroline T.]

Re: Ruler foot question

I had the same problem with my vintage Singer and the Westalee ruler foot. At first it was so bad that I couldn't even move a single layer of fabric (much less a sandwiched quilt) under the foot. I loosened the Presser Foot tension (little dial at the top of my machine) and that helped some, but for the vintage Singer...not enough. It might help you though!

That's the problem with "universal" feet, even though the manufacture will list a machine as being compatible, that's not always the case. I keep thinking I need to list my Westalee foot and rulers in the "I don't want it group".

[201 Treadler]

Re: Ruler foot question

have been thinking about this issue with skipped stitches
there are times needles don't work in a certain direction and cause skipped stitches,
would consider cleaning the bobbin area before tensioning and changing needle
sometimes different presser feet need different tensions,

( (spent some time trying to get a 66 to do free motion, the only way was with a leather needle, and a spring fm foot without the bit at front cut out, a lot of finicky tweaking tension tighter on bobbin and upper thread, the initial problem was the path of the thread as past through bobbin area which needed exact tension for it to not get caught up both ways,( the 66 & 99 bobbin area goes 2 ways it is possible to set up looking at tim quilts blog)
alas moved onto the 201, was easier set up.))

am not a ruler user, but have been thinking about it, seeing all the wonderful patterns,
although not to sure now.

apparently Leonie West the owner of Westalee has done 71 you tube videos. will go and watch

[grammaterry]

Re: Ruler foot question

I am fascinated by ruler quilting but cannot bring myself to invest in the foot or rulers. I have watched the videos and it looks pretty easy and interesting. My DD says she just uses a regular ruler and she has produced some really nice work.

[Squeaky]

Re: Ruler foot question

I have this machine and this foot. I found that adjusting the foot down just a smidge helped reduce or eliminate skipped stitches, but you're right - the bulky seams won't fit under there if you do that. What I ended up doing on my bulkiest of quilts was coming up with a design that avoided those spots. I worked out a design that echoed near the intersection but not through them - staying at least a half inch away from the intersection of 8+ pieces of fabric plus all of those seam allowances.

I'd say play with the same batting and a single layer of top and backing fabric first and get the stitches to do what you want in all directions, then make a few practice pieces with 2, 4, and even 8 pieces at an intersection to see just how much you can get through with the foot at your desired height and still not skipping.

Good luck with it - I did truly enjoy ruler work on the PQ1500 because of the large throat space (both wide AND tall) compared to my other DSM.

Oh, and almost forgot - try it out with a larger needle on the practice pieces. Even a Jeans/Leather needle might help a bit. Basically the more thread in the "ridge" of the needle (or larger ridge) gives the hook a better chance of picking up the stitch.