Obtaining pantos without going broke

[tiffberkovitz]

When starting a new longarm business is there an affordable way to build a panto collection?

[Bonnie]

Sometimes one of us will have some for sale, but as far as a discounted place, I don\'t know of one. Sorry....

[ramona-quilter]

Hola tiff y bienviendo a la forum,

The short answer is "no". Pantos go for about $16 - 18 (USD). Sometimes people that convert to the computer guided machines sell their panto collection here and it is usually a good bargain. But you don\'t see too many of them.

I started out with a few that I knew would be good for my business. I like them all so it is a real tempation to buy them all. I do a lot of bed quilts (twin & up) so I have some large scale patterns and of course, we all have our favorite designers. Some large scale pantos are Paisley Playtime (Hermione Agee), Rosie (Jodi Beamish), Featheration (Meredith England).

I live in a beach area so tropical themes like Fern Meander (Kathie James), Simply Seashells (Michelle Wyman), Wind & Water (Kathie James), Flamingos with Palm Trees (Deb Geissler) and Waterworld (Jodi Beamish) are very popular.

I also have a regular customer who makes lap quilts to give as gifts to her grand-daughters. I have used Tulip Festival, Wandering Daisies and Dancing Queen (Judy Vallely) for this little girl quilts.

I do have some that I love but have never used. But I will someday.

[busybee]

Checkout ebay,

www.quiltropolis.net

www.houseofhanson.com

www.longarmchat.com

www.longarmuniversity.com

for some used pantos. I got a few on ebay with satisfaction.

[Loes]

The most affordable and original pantos?

How about creating your own?

Take a look at the screenshots page on

http://quilters.pre-design.eu/apqs_longarm1.htm

You will find the written description on page:

http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=10461&page=1#pid96242

Also take a look on http://www.longarmpatterns.com

These patterns were all made with Pre-Design.

Loes

[quiltmonkey]

You are aware (as we all are), that when first starting our buisness, collecting tools and supplies is expensive. For me (in my first year of quilting), I am taking it slow and gradually gathering things as they come up. For example, Nita above mentioned ebay. I have found some pantos on ebay but you have to be patient and watch like a fox. Patience is critical when pouncing on deals with ebay. In fact, I just bought a bunch of rulers (most of them never used) from an ebay seller for less than half retail (I was a fox and pounced! lol!!) But you have to watch daily and pounce when the opportunity arises. I\'ve seen pantos for sale on ebay, and got some good ones, but they go quickly so you have to watch for them, and be patient.

I\'ve also recieved supplies from fellow quilters who are downsizing their supply stash. Bonnie in New York, and Linda in Ramona (above) both mentioned that sometimes people sell things here, too. Again, you have to watch for them and jump at the opportunity.

And, here is another idea you can consider: Create your own pantographs! Loes and Theo have created a computerized program that allows you to design your own stuff. Here is Loes\' and Theo\'s web site.

http://quilters.pre-design.eu/trial.htm

I am taking classes from them at MQS in May. It should be fun.

PS: You could probably create your own business niche by designing pantographs with Mexican and Latino themes!!!

Best wishes to you and bienvenidos!

[mrmquilt]

There are several books called add-a- line and you can also buy pattern packs for under $20 that

have snippets you can turn into pantos.

I bought a roll of butcher block paper from GFS for under $20 and just sat in front of the tv and copied

some of them.

The pattern packs are put out by Golden Threads.

Just another option

Michele

[Marion]

I use Pantos that I drew on rolls of paper I bought at AC Moore. I trace designs and just make sure they repeat so they are continuous lines most are pretty simple but I would like to get better or should I say more detailed. I like five pointed stars and some time ago could not find any in all of my quilt books so designed my own. I then found out a 5 pointed star in a circle is a pentacle and a Wicken sign. I went ahead anyway and made several quilts with that design and did a five pointed star continuos line panto with several loops in between. The next one I do will be with silver thread as the fabric has silver in it. Someday I will try and do something like a feather but right now Pantos are it. I roll the finished pantos on tubes my husband has cut up from the rolls of batting.

[tiffberkovitz]

thanks for the good ideas. I have been really working on a lot of free hand stuff and don\'t really love doing pantos, but I know I need to have a reasonable supply available because not everyone wants to have me artistically attack their quilt! Quilting down here has its own challenges (people using old sheets as backs and interesting top piecing from old scarves, sheets, etc... since there is NO quilt shop to be found and the selection in Guadalajara has a lot to be desired if you dare brave the traffic to get there)

[DB]

Longarmsupplies.com has a "Beginners pack" that discounts the pantos slightly because you are buying a bunch of them. They are located in Canada, I don\'t know what your exchange rate is for them in Mexico. Some panto designers are less that others, some have more than one panto design on a roll, kind of like a bonus. I have a list of suppliers and browse through them every once in a while, not a safe thing to do because I always end up spending money. DB

[tiffberkovitz]

Ooh, good. i will check it out. I usually have stuff shipped to my house in Dallas and my husband brings it down to me since he commutes back and forth.

[lyonden]

I am in the process of downsizing my pantos. When I get a list together I will be selling them cheap. I am going to retire in 1.5 years and am not taking all this with me.