Who knew there were so many 'walking feet'?

So I spent the entire afternoon yesterday researching and looking at 'walking feet' and how to do the quilting.  Who knew there were so many different kinds for so many different sewing machines?

I couldn't find one to fit the Brother XL703, the 50+ year old machine so I searched for one for my Singer 9805.

I found which one I needed for my model then searched for where to buy one. Found a couple of different sellers on ebay had them so this morning I ordered one.

Before making the decision to buy it I wanted to see if there was an alternate way to do quilting. Apparently, if you are super good, you can quilt using an open toe darning foot.  I actually have a closed toe darning foot for the XL703 (which seemingly could work also) but the bottom teeth won't drop on the machine. They should, but they don't.  The knob on the front that is supposed to take them down so you can darn doesn't work.  I have tried to get it to function but I can't and it isn't worth the time, effort and cost to take it to get repaired.  Buying a new machine would be more cost effective (but I've yet to convince my husband of that. grrr)!

So, a walking foot for the Singer was really the only sensible option as all the quilting sites say, that using this foot, is the best way for beginners to go.  I could have bought an open toe foot for the Singer which was cheaper than the walking foot but from what I read only experienced quilters can make it work.  I can darn on the Singer it seems because it has a cover that go over the teeth so you can move the fabric around.  As I have never tried to darn on it trying to quilt would be be a little above my pay grade.

This is the walking foot that fits my Singer 9805 that I have ordered

I am not planning on taking up quilting full time or becoming an expert quilter.  I will make the queen sized quilt I talked of in a previous post using the ready quilted squares I have and after that just baby quilts if any more new babies come along.

I have knitting projects I want to do, a baby jacket to make for the grand baby due in May and a sweater for myself.  To date, the only thing I have knitted myself is a hat since I re-embarked on the knitting machine train mid 2011.

The interesting thing of the day is that my husband knew I would need this foot to do the quilting.  I guess he used to pay attention when his Mum used to sew.  He knew it went up and down.  I didn't!

So that leads me to wonder where the heck is the one she had??????  I have searched and searched and not been able to find it!