cegates Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I am about to get started on my first quilt that has "issues". I am doing this for a friend, and one long side is 2" longer than the other, and I can already see hills and valleys even before attempting to load it. How do you work in fullness when you are using a panto? I feel fairly confident that I can do this from the front of the machine with pinning and strategic quilting, but don't understand how you can do that when you are working from the back. It seems that you would be randomly quilting in pleats and tucks as you go since you can't watch the stitching and the panto at the same time. Thanks in advance! Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitepinesquilter Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 First question I have is wondering if the extra length is in a border? If so, could she remove it and fix prior to quilting? I do a lot of pantos and have issues like this once in a while. I will pin the heck out of a top as well as baste the sides before I start a new row. (Alas, my cheap flower head pins have been stitched through before.) I have basted a tuck in prior to stitching the panto when trying to ease all the excess in didn't look right to me. If you do that for a customer, do show them so they are aware of it if it hasn't been mentioned ahead of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 What Marci said. (I love that you thought to cut out the flower head to get the pin out!!) A puffy batting as opposed to a thin flat cotton batting can help with the fullness. Choosing a more open panto as opposed to a dense one helps, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Thanks for the replies! The fullness is caused by piecing from what I can tell. The quilt top was made by the sweetest lady in the world who is just so determined to master quiltmaking. She has been in 2-3 of my classes, and never gets upset when she has to do things over to get it right. This is the first top she has made all by herself, not much natural talent there but she has a wonderful attitude. For the quilting part, do you really just sew right over the flower head pins? What gauge pins are these? Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Carol--Oh my! I must jump in and caution you to never stitch over a pin. (I'm doing that shudder thing with my shoulders right now .) I think that Marci did it inadvertently. You may break a needle and tear a hole in the quilt--and throw it out of time. It's a nightmare--and when I accidentally stitch over a pin my heart skips a beat. Take it from experience--they tell you not to stitch over pins for a reason. Sorry for hollering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Okay--back to business--there is great advice above about dealing with fullness and stitching pantos. Deal with the fullness before you start stitching. You can stitch-baste some of the fullness down or take a pleat--as mentioned above--remembering that the basting will need to be removed and you may get tucks against the basting stitches. My favorite solution would be to master a couple of overall designs similar to the patterns in the pantos you like--leaves, loops, hearts, etc--and stitch these problem quilts from the front. Not much help, I know, if you are stretching your design wings. But a great solution for your quilting arsenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sparrow Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 great advice above. The Deloa Starch and Steam method will shrink up loads of the bulk too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitepinesquilter Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 And, no, I didn't intentionally stitch over my pins - I overlooked when removing them before starting another panto row! There are no pins that should be left in place - I'm sorry if I gave that impression. It was a joke on myself that I mentioned it as I had just brought the subject up (about my goo-fup of sewing through a flower head pin) on another post and not a recommendation. I mentioned basting in a small pleat or tuck when no other option works, and yes, any starching and steaming is a good option as Matt mentioned. I personally don't get good results doing it - starch and steaming - I wished I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 What Marci said. (I love that you thought to cut out the flower head to get the pin out!!) A puffy batting as opposed to a thin flat cotton batting can help with the fullness. Choosing a more open panto as opposed to a dense one helps, too. Thanks for the replies! The fullness is caused by piecing from what I can tell. The quilt top was made by the sweetest lady in the world who is just so determined to master quiltmaking. She has been in 2-3 of my classes, and never gets upset when she has to do things over to get it right. This is the first top she has made all by herself, not much natural talent there but she has a wonderful attitude. For the quilting part, do you really just sew right over the flower head pins? What gauge pins are these? Carol Oh my!!! I didn't mean to have given that impression to sew over pins. Yikes, no, don't do this!!! I'm sooo glad Linda and Marci got to the post so fast! I, too, have sewn over a pin accidentally, like Marci, and thankfully nothing bad happened, but I would think that was just plain luck that it didn't cause a situation that needed fixing. Most of the quilts I've received have little problems here and there ... none of my clients are perfect piecers (yet!), and that includes me! LOL I think it is wonderful you are teaching others to piece. I learned from books and later online. Thankfully I got better at it. Most of the gals I quilt for started with me as their long armer when they were "new quilters" and I love that they take classes to learn how to be a better piecer as it helps to make our job easier. Kuddos to you for being a teacher!! There should be a "quilt piecing teacher appreciation day!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWBowser Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I know that Bonnie Botts has a DVD called "Spray Starch and Steam". She has been on the forum and is a dealer. I have taken a tuck (pleat) in and sewn it by hand or used dressmaker pins to hold it in place while i stitch the row. I usually write down the number of pins so I find them and get them out before moving to another row. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitepinesquilter Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Charlotte, Yep, I think I do need to count my pins I'm a believer in pinning but hadn't even considered counting them. That would sure be the best thing to do for me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferBernard Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 I pin baste the edges of tops to help ease in fullness. Then I leave the pins in as I roll to another area to quilt. I use the flower head pins. They seen to add a little more bulk to the baggy border and when I get to the other end of the quilt the excess is usually worked out. I also use my hands to really tighten the center of the top on the roller but leave the end borders alone. If there is really a lot of excess border I stuff scraps do batting on the top under the front roller just along the baggy border part on both ends. I try to stuff just a little less as I go. If a top is really square then I take the pins along the edge as I go to keep the quilt square. If you are worried about sewing over pins when doing a panto, Before I start a row I lay a ruler on the panto 3 to 6 inches before the edge to remind myself to stop and look for the pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aktbone Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 At a class in Portland, we were shown a slide show and in one of the pics I remember seeing 2 can of veggies on both sides of the arm of the machine. They roll as you go and hold out the fullness. I find that works. Hope that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferBernard Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Great idea! I had a baggy spot just last week and threw a bunch of stuff on the quilt to pull the excess fabric taunt. Veggies that roll would have been much easier! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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