Open or Closed Foot for Free Motion Quilting

by Serena Smith

(Click the photos for a larger image)

Freehand or free motion quilting is a fun method of quilting. Free motion quilting is sewing without the feed dogs moving the fabric through the machine. The feed dogs are lowered and you are in control of moving the fabric to create the pattern of stitches you desire. It takes a bit of practice to create even flowing stitches, but can be very fun and rewarding. A darning foot or free motion foot is needed to achieve these stitches.

There are two free motion presser feet I like to use for different areas on a quilt. One is a free motion quilting foot with an open toe and the other is a free motion foot with a closed tool. There are a couple of reasons why I like to use each one.

Open toe presser foot - An open toe presser foot is like a circular foot with an opening in the front of the circle. This foot makes it easy to slip the thread under the foot when I am starting and stopping in my quilting. The main reason I like this foot for most of my free motion quilting is that it gives me greater visibility to see my stitches as I am sewing. If I am following a pattern or design in the fabric, I can see exactly where I am and where I need to be going very easily with this foot.

Closed toe presser foot - I do most of my free motion quilting with the above open toe foot, except when I am stitching around embroidery designs. Then I use the closed toe foot, sometimes also called a darning foot. I love to quilt around embroidery designs in my quilt. It allows the designs to puff up and gives them a dimensional appearance. I use the closed toe foot for this stitching so the toes of the foot do not get caught in the embroidery stitches. It is so easy for the toes to catch in the threads of the embroidery and rip the embroidery stitches or cause uneven stitches in your quilting. But when I use the closed toe foot, I don't have to worry about either of those two things happening.

These two feet work well for me! Give them a try and see if they will work for your next quilting project!

The threads of the embroidery design catch on the open toe foot.

The closed toe presser foot just glides over the edge of the embroidery design.