Can you quilt with just a normal sewing machine?

[medaroge]

I have just a normal singer sewing machine and have done quilt tops, but always tied them. I keep hearing of so many people quilting at home, they cant all have longarm quilting machines, right? So is it possible to actually quilt a quilt on a normal sewing machine? What type of feet/extra accessories would I need? Thanks so much!
~Melissa

[Jenlaana]

Guess I was wrong The people that taught me to quilt (local quilters/shows) all told me that a regular machine would not work because I could not change directions. oops!

[fallriverfox]

You might look into a walking foot attachment. They make it much easier on a regular machine. They are kind of expensive, but much cheaper than a longarm machine.

[triciarn]

I quilt my quilts with my regular Simplicity sewing machine!

I have a walking foot for stitching in the ditch. I also free motion quilt with my machine. You just have to have a darning foot and be able to drop your feed dogs. I know there are some tutorials online. Also check out your local library.

Tricia

[majick1]

Same as Tricia. I quilt with my Kenmore with a walking foot in the ditch. No problem. If I can ever get up the nerve to freehand i can use the same machine by dropping the feed dogs.

[ralphie76]

Yep! I've got a 27+ year old Pfaff with no fancy features, and I've made several quilts on it. I wouldn't want to try to quilt a huge thick king size bed quilt on it, just because it would be hard to stuff half the quilt between the needle and the base, but I've made twin size bed quilts on it, no problem!

[monkaha]

"in the ditch"? :

[medaroge]

"In the ditch" means you are quilting along your sewn lines. Like say you did a patchwork quilt, you would quilt up and down and across the blanket going along the seams from where you pieced the quilt together? Does that make sense? It is not stippling, or meandering, or any other squiglies or shapes when you are quilting.

Does that help? Or just confuse even more? :

[monkaha]

Oh ok, I get it. Thanks!! I'm just venturing into quilting, and it's intimidating!

[anneandoreo]

You can absolutely quilt with a basic home sewing machine. Like everyone had suggested, invest in a walking foot for straight quilting, and a darning/free motion foot (my favorite) for free motion quilting. It's great if you can drop your feed dogs. But with my very first machine,also a singer, came with a cover. If your machine doesn't allow you to drop the feed dogs and doesnt' have a cover for the feed dogs, you can punch a hole in a small piece of index card, tape that over the feed dogs so the needle goes through the hole.
anne