pantographs, freemotion, block patterns, or other

[gardenquilter]

pantographs, freemotion, block patterns, or other
which do you prefer and why

[quilterbee]

I do free motion and ruler work. These are my favorite and for me, the fastest way. Amie

[grammy]

I prefer the free motion. The pantographs make me a little nuts to try and measure and lay out on the quilt top. Just find I don't get into pantographs as much - like to either do the stencils or free motion.

[Nadine2007]

I love the pantographs best but like free motion also.

[Quiltcreator]

grammy - why do you measure the pantos and lay them out on the quilt top? Don't you have a laser light so you can set the pattern from the back?

[gardenquilter]

I also will sometimes measure the pantos - sometimes I will have a quilt or a customer who really wants the panto to circle the quilt you know in squares it is usually only on the outer border but sometimes in some of the inner parts as well - then I have auditions the patterns more to see if they fit and if not then I have to resize them which isnt hard but takes time after all of that then it goes to the back and the laser light is turned on - the quilts just look so good when the panto goes around it - have to take the quilt off and turn it too and also turn the pantos so that they are all going in the same direction and do the math to make sure they meet properly in the corners and the centers

[Quiltcreator]

To me the idea of a panto is to go edge to edge and end up where it will at the bottom. What you are describing is custom quilting and I hope you are charging accordingly. If I had a customer who wanted the panto to circle around the quilt, I think I would tell her to go find another longarmer.

[gardenquilter]

lol of course I do - and I really do enjoy doing it - and I love to look at it when it is finished - it is more custom than edge to edge but still working with the pantopattern

[butter8695]

hi, i am new to quilting and i was hoping someone could help me. i am having problems with invisible thread, it seems to stay loose and bunches up.

[marcia]

It takes a little figuring but I have used my card shop program on the computer to make patterns. I have a short arm so my work area is not as large as a long arm so I figure my width and measure my length. Then use my drawn pattern and scan it into my banner program and resize it as I like. There are measurements for the length and width so I usually get pretty close to what I am tring for. Once I get my design done I print it off as a banner. I have made most of my patterns like this. After laying it on the table and adjusting it I use my laser light to quilt with. I had all my patterns in a tote on my deck and about a month ago we had a bad storm and they all got wet and ruined. The good news was since most of them was designed on my computor I had copies of them. This may not be the easiest way but it works for me and I like making some of my own patterns.