Newbie Panto question

[Karen in Georgia]

I\'ve only had my Lenni for a couple weeks and am only now getting to the pantographs. I always used free motion on my previous machine but am determined to learn how to set up a panto soon. My first question is do you REALLY only go from right to left on a panto like the book instructs? This is disappointing to me. It is confusing me because the panto designs go in every direction so I don\'t understand why you shouldn\'t go from left to right while on the back. It doesn\'t say anything about not going right to left on the front.

Confused Karen in Marietta

[Bonnie]

Okay...lets see if I can confuse you more....

When I got my machine a zillion years ago, I was told that when you are in the back of the machine....the panto side you should always go right to left and when in front of the machine you should got left to right....so that the hook assembly is making the perfect contact each time it rotates. Giving you less chance of having pulled threads, and perfect stitches each time....so that when you go around a corner or jerk the head that the needle will not flex against the hook and snap.

Now with that said....my brain does not work that way....so the very few pantos that I have done I start at the left side and work to the right....I have to admit...it works, but I also have to admit, the stitches are not as well layed as I should have had if I had gone the correct way.

I\'m sure that others will chime in here...and I too would like to hear what they say. Even though I have been quilting for a long time, I have to admit, I haven\'t done that many pantos...so am too learning the right and wrong way.

[Sherri]

I don\'t think there is a right or wrong way - we pretty much just figure out through trial and error what works for us and what doesn\'t. That\'s what I love about how everyone shares their methods of doing things - we can all learn from each other.

This is my panto way: When a panto has one pass per row, I always start at the right side (from the back) and work my way towards the left. At the end of the row, I advance the quilt and start again at the right side.

Now...if the panto has two passes per row, and it\'s a SIMPLE design, then I will sometimes begin as I described above for the first pass, drop down on the left side (again, from the back of the machine) and do the second pass "backwards" or left to right.

It\'s true that, due to the way the hook ass\'y works in conjunction with the needle, the best stitch quality is obtained by moving from right to left from the back. But, having said that, the quality of stitching doesn\'t seem to be affected enough to be a problem when stitching from the opposite way.

If the panto is in any way complex, however, I always start the new row at the right side - too confusing for my beady little brain to work backwards if it\'s a dense or difficult design.

And yes, I admit that it doesn\'t take much to confuse me........

[Karen in Georgia]

Thanks to you both. Now I don\'t feel so bad about it. I\'m sure I will only be doing simple designs for a while, so I\'ll just do whatever works.

Thanks again.

[dtreusch]

Ya learn something new every day. I\'ve always done pantos from left to right, unless there is multiple passes then I do like Sherri does.

I don\'t do that may pantos and it never occurred to me to do them from right to left. :P:P

Debbi

[Persephannie]

Wow, there are so many things that I have to learn. I\'ve always worked right to left for one row and then left to right for the other row whether working from the front of the machine or the back. Maybe this is why I have so much trouble with tension and stich length... Thaks for the insight everyone

[quiltermidwife]

Can\'t remember how I know but I always work right to left from the back and left to right from the front for the exact reason that Bonnie so ably described.

[TAQuilts]

I\'ve done lots of pantos on customer quilts, and have experimented doing them in both directions. For myself, I\'m better off sticking to always starting a new row on the right. My brain learns the pattern quicker and I have a better flow through out. Experiment going either direction and do whatever works out and feels best to you.

I also do the bottom of the quilt first if I can. If the panto and the quilt surface is NON directional. I load the quilt Bottom border to the take-up bar instead of the quilt Top border. By starting at the bottom of the quilt when I can, I\'m able to learn the panto or refresh my memory and work out the quirks at the the bottom of the quilt, before reaching the top.

Terry

[Darlene Epp]

For me it\'s simply a matter of coordination. I find it much more difficult to look left at the laser while moving to the right, than I do moving in the same direction as I\'m looking.

This is especially true of a complicated pattern. Just the way my brain\'s wired!

[DawnCavanaugh]

Karen,

Don\'t get too stressed about quilting direction. Yes, there technically is a "right" way and Bonnie explained it great...the machine is "timed" so that your needle meets the hook as the best possible spot to create the best possible stitch. When you move in the "reverse" direction, the needle gets to the timing spot late, and so it doesn\'t have enough time to pull the bobbin thread up into the quilting layers before it must go up and down again for the next stitch. (The result?? Pokies )

When you are on the pantograph side, your stitches will look better when you generally move right to left.

On the freehand side, your stitches will look better left to right. Of course, with ANY pattern you do you\'re moving in ALL directions, so the impact on the stitch quality isn\'t quite as noticeable.

However, if you were to stitch straight "horizontal" lines across the quilt first left to right (on the freehand side) and then right to left (again on the freehand side), you will definitely notice a change in tension and/or stitch quality on one of the lines--the one where you moved in "reverse," or right to left on the freehand side.

On the panto side, the directions are reversed. An easy way to remember which way to go is to always move toward your motorized feed (on Millies and others) or toward the roller brake(s) for your Lenni.

Another aspect that can influence the stitch quality is the batting thickness and pattern density. If you quilt the first row of a pantograph in one direction, and the second in the opposite direction, you may notice that the fabric shifts in that general direction that you were moving, causing some distortion of the quilt. If the quilting pattern is very open, this will be very obvious.

You can certainly move any direction you want! Just keep in mind that you might trade some stitch quality when quilting in "reverse." One way to think about it is to compare the quilting to sewing with a home sewing machine...your stitches will not look the same as you stitch a seam forward, compared to how they\'d look if you were to stitch the seam holding in the "reverse" button on the sewing machine.

Whatever you do, have fun and remember that you have to do what\'s right for you!

[Karen in Georgia]

Thanks to everyone for their help!