Hey you Panto Queens....

[ffq-lar]

Oh great and powerful Panto Queens, I bow low in honor of your abilities!!!! (Are you listening, Ramona Linda???)

Here\'s the story--got a beautiful Millie 3 years ago and never did a panto. I can freehand an overall in record time--got three or four overalls that I am good at.

I can SID--hate it but I can do it.

I have practiced enough to follow a stencil pretty well--stay on the line and with OK speed.

Well, I got a rodeo quilt and of course--no cowboy overall that I wanted to invent, so I bought a cowboy panto--boots, a star, bucking bronco and a six-shooter. You know the one.

Loaded up the top and placed the panto.

Took me 4 hours to do a 64" square. My hands are sore from the death grip on the handle (favorite method--left hand on left handle and right hand gripping the back of the machine above the laser switch. And my hip against the carriage--ala Shana! Thanks, girlfriend!)

My hat is off to all you speedy panto-ettes. I will get better I guess, no where to go but up!!! Just wanted you all to know how great you are!!!

[BethDurand]

Oh Linda, Loosen up girl!

I put both hands on the back left handle, with R elbow close to my body for support. If I have a death grip, my hands and arms start to hurt, and I can\'t go for long. So, loosen up the hands, the shoulders, arms, have a glass of wine, and some chocolate, then go lasso yourself a cowboy.

Beth

[Merryjo2003]

Hi,

I hated pantos to start with. I forced myself to learn how to do them because there are so many wonderful ones out there. Loosen up! Remember that the panto is only a guideline. (Echo that line to yourself.)

If they\'re really intense, (trust me, some are) it\'s more important to stay on the lines. If they\'re not, don\'t worry about not being exactly on the lines. If you have a "death grip", your hands and arms, let alone your back and shoulders, will be screaming at you before you finish. Turn the laser on and trace it a time or two before you jump into it. That helps you get the motion and the flow of the pattern down. Keep checking yourself to make sure you\'re relaxed. I tend to start out good, then tense up as I go. I keep hearing that little voice "it\'s only a guideline", then check my hands. Remember, this is supposed to be FUN!

[gable428]

I have to say pantos are my favorite. The biggest thing is to relax and like Merry Jo said, the lines are only a guide. Look ahead so you know where you\'re going and relax and breathe.

[Mary Beth]

Of course pantos are my favorite, cause I can\'t do the freehand stuff...so my hat is off to YOU girlfriend. If I could freehand there is not way I would put another panto on my table....but just can\'t do it.

[fabric007]

To me the panto is the most stress free...right now all I have is the kind you have to "think" the do whatever I want to on it..different borders, blocks etc. My mind is fried from doing so manyh of these in a row...guess when i started quilting, way long ago...all we had were clouds, figure 8\'s, shells, etc. the handles were only on one side...but I guess I had the death grip on the handles then too....just relax, and check your grip often...

[countrystitcher]

I love pantos and I have a bunch of them....I will do free-hand stuff but it takes me too long. When the customer doesn\'t care, a panto is what I use. Most of the time they just want something pretty and get it together. Pantos are my money makers. I started using two hands and have tried placing hands other places, but always go back two handed and use my body with the movement of my hands & arms. It\'s all a matter of your personal preference. Try different ways until you are comfortable with one of them. Keep stitchin.

Sharon.

[ramona-quilter]

Linda, you crack me up. You sure chose a hard panto pattern to start off with. And who says I\'m speedy. Do not be misled by my abundant panto inventory (128 at last count). I am built for comfort, not speed.

I too, put both hands on the left handle and I remember to keep my feet apart for balance, no leaning and breath.

I love to freemotion. Like you, I have a few that are easy and FAST to do. But you can\'t ignore that pantos are a money maker. People love the patterns. Feathers, Fido the dog, flowers, and flying saucers. What\'s not to love. They do take longer...you don\'t want 4 points on your sheriffs badge ...that\'s why I charge more for pantos than I do for freemotion.

One of my longarm buddies has pantos organized a bit differently than I do. I have floral, juvenile, nature, linear, etc. She has 4 bins under her longarm labeled, "Easy", "Intermediate", "Dense" and "Never again" \'

Please post a photo of your rodeo quilt.

[rduncan]

And breathe. All of those tips are good and I use most of them. When I start a row I tell myself, "Okay, everything is checked and in place, here we go." Stitch about 3 inches and then I tell myself, "Breathe."

You will do fine, and practice really does help, even on the pantos.

[FrammaJoy]

I think you picked a really hard one to start with.

[lizziesgirl]

I have a little ditty that I have run through my head and it keeps me going in an even pace and helps me to relax. Why? Have absolutely no idea. Here\'s the ditty:

Do your ears hang low,

Do they wobble to and fro,

Can you tie them in a knot,

Can you tie them in a bow....

Well you probably know the rest. My problem with pantos is the getting to the end of a row or if you just do one in the middle and something else on the sides, that is way to hard to do.

[belquilt]

I wish I could do Pantos... I have tried and tried for the last year. I think there is an issue with my wheels, as my curves are too sqaure. I think my wheels are too loose. I wish I coud get the hang of Pantos. I am just ABOUT READY TO GIVE UP!!! I love free motion and that\'s all I basically do. I want to do pantos but need help. Someone please come to Atlanta and adjust my wheels!! I think I screw them up each time I fool with them!

HELP!!!!!!!!! Or maybe I should list my pantos and sell them (can you tell I am frustrated!) :mad:

[sewingupastorm]

I am the queen of freehand allover designs NOT pantos. I do a charity quilt everyso often with a panto. Well a customer wanted that same panto you did (Cowboy Way) so it was my quilt on Monday and Tuesday (did it on a charity quilt first). I think it came out pretty well except for that sx shooter..............just could not get that shape to be really good (would like to shoot that part of the panto!)

With pantos I hold both hands on the same handle........yep two handed. I use my entire body to move with the machine and that helps so much. I do Karate and that horse rider stance is a good one to practice as I go thru the panto and the machine moves away. I always wait to move my feet till I get to a place where the is a corner in the panto so there is no wobble caused by my movement. I always allow the turns to come to a stop so that the corners are sharp and I keep moving thru the curves so there are no bobbles.

Yep my best advice is: PPP! and then practice some more.

NO photos yet as I am experiencing my holiday rush (this is the first year I have been so busy so I am enjoying it! Todays quilt is a Baptist Fan and it is already loaded. Tommorow a swirl........over the weekend the custom heirloom gets reloaded and I will make more progress. When I have time I will post some photos.

[DB]

OMG Ramona 128 pantos! Do you just keep track of the ones that you don\'t already have? How do you even keep them straight? Please know that I am secretly envious of your collection. Beth, I read your comment, and laughed so hard. I am just where you are. I\'ve had my machine about 6-7 weeks. I went nuts and bought lots of pantos because I thought they looked great and I new that this was "going to be alot of fun". WRONG. I have those same square curves. I thought things were starting to look a little better, thinking "o.k., not too bad ". Then last week I went to a show in Nashua, N.H., when I came home I wanted to torch the practice piece that I have been working on. If any one out there is have a glass of wine to quilt with, please have one for me too. DB

[ramona-quilter]

DB, put away the matches and grab some chocolate.

To answer your question:

Do you just keep track of the ones that you don\'t already have? How do you even keep them straight?

You give me way too much credit - I can\'t remember what I ate for breakfast. I have an excel spreadsheet for my pantos. I have them by name, designer, house, size, rows, and categories. The A-word rules my pantos. You know that you can take thread back if you find that you bought a duplicate. But you cannot take a panto back. I learned that quickly and made the spread sheet. I have an old one attached in case you want to use it. It is not up to date but you\'ll be able to get the idea.

The funny thing is, I haven\'t done a panto in a couple of months. Oh wait, I used a Deb Geissler border. I use them mostly for training and inspiration. I do have some favorites though, mostly Keryn Emmerson, Lisa Thiessen, Hermione Agee and Kathie James.

[JenMcManus]

I think I\'m going to love pantos, but I have to first get good at lining them up and getting the second row where it should be. I\'m not there quite yet. There seem to be many different methods for doing this, ie APQS manual way, Longarm University way, etc.

Linda, your spreadsheet is SO cool!

Jen

[Myrna Ficken]

Beth,

You know I\'ll be there in January and I will be happy to help you out with that, pantos and wheels.

Myrna

[DB]

Linda, I opened your spread sheet and sat here with my mouth hanging open reading it. More than half of these I had never even heard of, I hadn\'t heard of some of the companies either. I hope you don\'t mind, I printed your list and am planning to use it to high light the ones that I already have and circle the ones that I need to get. Although I suppose I should first get a better handle on how to do them. DB

[ramona-quilter]

Use it all you want. No copyright. HaHa.

[belquilt]

Thanks Mryna!!! I will take all the help I can get.

Maybe I should drink some wine and eat some Chocolate before I practice!!!!

I will keep trying though, I won\'t let this get the best of me. I am sure I am expecting these to look perfect. I will take your advice and look ahead a bit. I could be trying one too hard also, but they are also so nice looking!!! I will get the hang of this!!!!!! I should sing a song or something. But then after the wine and chocolate the song might not sound too good