Pantograph size for Millie

[mrskpierce]

Hello all,

   I’ll be getting my Millie soon and so I’m wanting to buy some pantographs.  I see that you can get them as big as 17”, so my question is what size is too small or too big?   Thanks!

[Charmaine]

The size of the panto you want to do is determined by the number of times you like to advance the quilt.  The Millie.throat space is 26 inches so you can do larger pantos. Larger pantos are what I look for when doing community quilts.  I like quick and easy with enough stitch density to make them durable.

There are a number of factors to look at to see if a certain panto will meet your needs:

 Look at the spacing of the drawn lines of the panto to see the density of the design.  Look at whether the designs are nested in the rows.  Look at the complexity of the lines and whether you must back track on the lines as you trace the pattern.  Look at whether the designs are quite exact and symmetrical or whether the designs are free flowing and not so exact that a wobble or stitching off the traced line would show.  

Hope this helps!  Have fun!

[Sue E.]

In addition to what Charmaine stated, also be aware of how big the quilt itself is. As you roll the quilt onto the take-up roller, you will lose a little quilting space. Make sure you give yourself enough room to complete the last couple of rows. I decide what size panto I want to do by the quilt itself. Some sizes are just too big for the piecing and will not look just right. Conversely, you don't want to make a panto too small either.

[mrskpierce]

Thank you Charmaine and Sue E., your answers were VERY helpful!!!