This is how the tale began. I am making a fall quilt, consisting entirely of
half square triangles. Usually, I use Brenda Hennings CD, called
Triangulations.
If you don’t have a copy, it is fantastic.You choose whatever
size of half square triangles you like and print off the number of sheets you need.
This takes some time, as you have to figure out how many half square triangles
you will need for the entire quilt. The paper does tell you how many
each sheet will make . This helps alot.
Sew on the dotted lines, cut apart, and voila-perfect half square triangles. You
don’t have to trim them down to their proper size or waste a ton of fabric. It saves
alot of time and aggravation.
Well, while sewing, I kept getting puckers, as
shown in the next picture. This did not make me a happy camper, at all.
I went through the usual questions: proper needle? Proper tension on the
feed dogs? Correct tension? Still puckers. Then I thought about the foot I was
using. Could that make such a difference? It seemed like the foot was sticking
and catching on the paper.
As you can see, the foot on the left is an open toe foot. I am unsure of what the
foot on the right is called. If anyone knows, just let me know. I was using the
foot on the right. So, I switched it out with the open toe foot and voila-no more
puckers or pulling. Can you bellieve that?
I turned the feet over and examined the backs of both. The foot I had begun with
has 2 lines engraved in the bottom of the foot-proably for more grip on the fabric.
It did work because it was gripping the paper and making the fabric
underneath bunch up.
The open toe foot, has only 1 groove etched into it so it creates less drag when
sewing. I did not know this. Did you? I have done lots of sewing of garments and
items around the house but this seemed crazy and interesting, all at the
same time.
This is what the paper and fabric together looks like. And I have only 9
more blocks to stitch and then I can cut all these blocks apart. There are
still 7 blocks to be ripped out and sewn over again. At least it is not the
whole 48 blocks. The ripping of the paper follows.
This should be an official ceremony I think. Helps to celebrate what you have
accomplished so far and motivates you to actually finish the quilt you have
started. So, this is my tale of the 2 feet. Hope it helps you somehow in your
quilting adventures.
I am hoping to have the quilt top all together by next week and have a
picture for you. Happy quilting.
Your F2 foot is an open toe satin stitch foot. The bottom is open for the bulk of the thread on the stitches to flow through easier. I can’t read what the other one is but you might want to check the machine manual. It probably is a F or a standard satin stitch. Neither are a good choice for piecing. These are Janome feet so you might check their site if you don’t have the manual you should be able to access it there. The right foot for the right job will make a difference in your end product!
Happy stitching.
HI Taria,
Thanks for letting me know what feet I should be using. It does make a difference with the stitching. Sounds like you know alot about sewing machine feet.