Pantos

[Pam Geary]

I've been quilting exclusively from the front of my machine for some time now. At first I loved the pantos and that's all I did. I would like to get back to doing more pantos but could use some advice/opinions about how you figure how many times the panto will repeat from top to bottom of a quilt. The obvious way is to measure but I found that by the time I got to the bottom, something stretched and I had extra space or I had used up too much space and the last panto would not fit unless I altered it. Who else has had this problem? How did you deal with it?

Thanks,

Pam

[Katydids]

Hi Pam,

I am new to LA-ing but was lucky enough to attend MQS this year. I learned so much from taking beginner classes. I attended one on using pantos and beyond. In the class she told us about a software program called Pantogram Wizard that does exactly what you are talking about. It is inexpensive and very easy to use. It is by Linda Mae Dinny and you can find it on her webpage, www.thecalicokitten.com. I just love it, it is so easy to use.

Email me if you have any other questions.

[Katydids]

I guess I should add that you measure the quilt area to be quilted. Then measure the panto. Put these figures into the system and it tells you how many you can fit. You can alter this to be whole units. You then put a pin on the quilt at each location it tells you too, then just start each row at the pin. No more half patterns.

hope this helps.

[Pam Geary]

Patty,

Thanks for your reply. I'll go to the Calico Kitten website and check it out.

Thanks again.

Pam:)

[Pam Geary]

Patty,

I went to Calico Kitten and checked out the Panto Wizard. It looks like I'm out of luck. It states that the Panto Wizard needs Excel or Microsoft Works in order to work. I know that I don't have Excel and don't think I have Microsoft Works. What is Microsoft Works and how would I know if I have it? I have other Microsoft things on my computer but Works is not one I'm familiar with. I know this is not a quilting question but if anyone can help me with this I would sure like to be able to use the Panto Wizard.

Thanks,

Pam

[Katydids]

Hi Pam,

My husband tells me that MS Works is sometimes bundled in with the other MS softwares. Go to your start menu, click on programs and look for MS Works.

I just did a search on www.officedepot.com. You can purchase MS Works for $49.99 if you don't have it. It may be a worthwile investment if you think you will be doing alot of pantos. Just my opinion.

There is also another method which is manual. I didn't much care for it, called Pantograph Planner, www.quiltscomplete.com. Its a large roll of paper with markings that you lay beside the quilt to do the figuring. I think it runs $35.00.

[mburnette]

I have microsoft office excel would that be ok?

Mary in FL

[bstucker]

One thing you should consider if you want to evenly space your pantos so you don't end up with a partial pattern on the last row, is that you may not like the spacing you have to use to achieve this. You may be able to see the beginnings of each row. I used the paper Panto Spacer when I first started my business and decided it was too time consuming to use, and the gaps between the pattern rows were not appealing to me. Just my opinion.

Barbara

[Pam Geary]

Barbara,

Thanks for your input. I wondered about that after I posted my questions yesterday. I don't want spaces between pantos. I want them to look interlocked. How do you accomplish this? Do you end up with a partial Panto? I guess a partial Panto would look better than gaps between each row. Is there any way to accomplish both- no gaps and ending with a whole panto?

Patty, I checked and I don't even have Microsoft Word. I have Word Perfect instead. I'll have to decide if it's worth it to purchase Works at this time. Do you find that you have gaps between rows when you use the Wizard? Thanks for your help.

Pam:)

[Katydids]

Pam,

Barbara is right, there might be times that the gap is too big. As stated in my earlier post, I am new, I don't have a great deal of experience with this, so don't listen to me!

Most of my pantos that I have used this on are interlocking and there was just a slight difference in gap space using the wizard vs the gap on the panto. It wasn't obvious. I guess it would all depend on the length of the quilt and the design you are wanting to use. I don't think there is one definate answer.

If you want to try it out before deciding, you could always e-mail me the info and I will plug the figures into my system, so you can see how it would work. My e-mail address is pbutcher@katydids.net.

[SandraC]

I have never worried about ending the quilt "just so", I almost always ends up on a partial row and I have never had anyone make a comment whatsoever about this. I like how the patterns interlock and think I'd rather keep that effect than space them out so things end up on a perfect row.

Sandra

[stephaniepg]

A technique I learned from a pro, Darlene Epp, was how to sew on and off a row. I don't worry about how many times to repeat. When you start, anchor down the row and quilt to fill the row even going off the row, and then do the same when you end. It may require markings on the panto to fill in the spaces, but it works well. Darlene can explain this much better than I can!

[bstucker]

Pam, I don't know of anyway to have the spacing you want, and have the panto end as a full row unless you would design a panto for a specific quilt. I don't worry about having a partial pattern on the last row, either. Some intructors recommend you start with a partial row, so the top and bottom look similiar, but I've never done that. I like the pantos that sort of undulate rather than go straight across the quilt, so wider spacing sort of defeats the look of those pantos. I usually sew them about a presser foot apart, and deal with the last row as necessary. I don't understand, stephaniepg, what you are describing that Darlene Epp showed you about sewing on and off the design. Please explain more. Maybe this is the answer?

[LynnQuilts]

I have never worried about ending with a full row when I do pantos. When I start the quilt, I do just a partial row, so when I end I want it to be a partial row too. If you are doing an all over design on your quilt, the side edges are running off the quilt, so I want my top and bottom to run off the quilt too, so it all looks uniform. I have never worried with math with my pantos, trying to get them to start and end evenly. It would be different if you are trying to center your panto on the inside of a quilt and do borders differently or something like that. But for just doing the straight panto all over the quilt, don't worry about starting and ending with full rows. Keep the rows interlocked as they should be, and let your starting and ending go off the quilt. Looks better that way and of course, it's easier! Just my thoughts, anyway!

[pstagl]

Like Lynn, I usually am starting with a partial row. Many of the interlocking pantos have them drawn in already. In the last row, I sew off and then back onto the quilt or sometimes I am able to do a little drawing with a wet erase pen to alter the pattern a bit so that I don't have to go off the pattern too often.

One thing I do is check my bobbin thread before I start a row and try to make sure there is enough thread to get all the way across without running out of thread. I probably waste thread left on bobbins, but I prefer that to starting and stopping in the middle somewhere. Of course, some pantos use more than a full bobbin in a row......

I try to use up the leftover bobbin thread when I am practice quilting.

Patty

[Sandra Thomas]

On the last row where you want to have a partial pattern, after lining up the panto where you will start run the machine without sewing across the bottom of the quilt. You can mark on the plastic cover or place long rulers below this area.

When you start sewing you can run just off the quilt or in the binding area that will be covered by the binding until you get to the line where the quilting goes back onto the quilt. Clear as mud?

[Pam Geary]

Thanks to all of you for your input. It really helps. Stephaniepg, please explain more. It was hard to understand and I have a feeling if I understand what you are saying it will be very helpful to me.

Thanks

Pam