Lynne in Iowa Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 I'm ready to try something more than meandering. Picked out a panto that I think should be easy enough. Now what!?!? Left to right, Right to left. Center from center or start design at the edge. Help every thing Dawn taught me vaporized in my brain and I can't find my notes in the disaster called my sewing room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 First order of business, take a deep breath, and say, this is not scary, I am a professional and I can do this. Let loose of your death grip on the handles and try just waltzing with your machine for a bit. answer to your question, from the back side you would be going right to left and start it at the edge, unless you are doing a separate border. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 Lynne, just pick a few pantographs now; and nothing too "tight" what I mean is, that the lines on the panto are not closer than 1 inch; preferably 2 inches space in between lines. This will give you some wiggle room. Some good beginner designs are Popcorn and Waterworld. Standing at the back of the machine, I would go from right to left. For me, I only hold one handle (the left one) with my right hand and keep my right arm (elbow) held tightly to my body and grab onto the take up roller with my left hand and walk toward the left. Only go one direction, so at the end of the row, cut the thread, advance the quilt and start from the right again, working to the left. The best thing to do is relax and not worry about being right on the line; the line is a guide only. Just like driving a car, look a little further ahead of where you're heading, not looking directly at the laser light. Your hand will follow where your eyes are looking. You will see smoother lines and improvements as you PPP so don't be too hard on yourself at first. Happy quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susanramey Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 You've gotten good advice from Shana and Bekah but I want to add something else to do before you start quilting. I always do a practice run first when I start a new panto. Start by turning on your machine and your laser light. Follow the pattern using the laser only and not stitching. Because you are so nervous I would suggest working down the table a couple of times to learn the pattern before you start any stitching. This will help you to become more comfortable with the panto. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing bear Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 I do LOTS of practice runs on my pantos. And I go right to left and then realine the panto and then proceed left to right. Glide glide swirl swirl ... and i find that singing while dancing helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynne in Iowa Posted January 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 OK I'm going to go load my quilt and give it a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 Lynne, good advice to do the "test run" and follow the laser without stitching first. And, I suggest that you try just going one direction for now (left to right). If you switch back and forth (left to right and then right to left) you can get really confused in the panto. So... start out baby steps and after you get more confident if you want to go the other direction sure... but frankly I find it very tricky to go backwards on something I am doing the other way... much easier and much faster to just go one direction (right to left) because your brain gets trained on how the pattern runs. Switching is like reading words backwards. It's a little awkward. After you get the hang of doing pantos, try doing the pantographs without the stitch regulator. I find the machine runs much smoother and you can go faster, too. It's fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynne in Iowa Posted January 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 Put some practice fabric in. It went pretty well, but I think I need to find a more organic one to follow until I get better. This one was a little to geometric so the mistakes were more noticeable. Thanks for the advice. Off to find a different one to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamelaA Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Bekah's Comment about letting go of the death grip is very important. When you tighten up you have a much harder time. Remember, unless you show people the panto and/or point out the errors they won't know if you didn't follow the line quite right. Pamela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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