Earlier this month I wrote about pantographs and I finally had the time to try one out. After attaching my pattern grid to the frame table with painter's tape (ensuring it was level) and cutting apart my 2-patterned pantograph into separate designs (so they would fit), I inserted one pattern under the grid. It was indeed very simple to make sure everything was lined up well using the printed grid lines.
My tester quilt was loaded up and I quilted my first row using the laser on my frame. Since I had already tried this technique when I had my longarm lesson, I had the rhythm down on how to trace the lines with the laser light. Other than thread issues, I completed the first row and it didn't look too bad.
I re-read all my notes and re-watched the videos about how to use pantographs and rolled up my quilt the way I understood to reach the next position to quilt. I quilted away...only to realize I had somehow rolled too far and had skipped an entire 'row' of fabric which should have been quilted. This left the area unquilted!
Frustration and no spare time made me abandon the whole set-up for the weekend. I am not one to give up or give in but I needed the break. Even though I had so much information about what to do next, the instructions were clear as mud to me and I just couldn't 'get it'. That really bugs me!
When I was ready to try again, I dragged my poor hubby to my frame and explained what I wanted to achieve. Between us we figured it out and the answer was so simple! I knew there had to be a concrete way to do it, not 'trial and error, hoping things line up'! While the info I'd read confused me about where the needle goes, where the laser is positioned, and where you line things up - and what side of the frame are you standing on, once I actually figured it out and experienced my 'ah-ha' moment, everything was right with the world.
Basically, once you have quilted your first row and tied off your thread, you move the laser light (and thus, the machine, since they are all attached) until it's on the highest part of the design (highest when you are standing behind the machine, with the top of the panto at the top of the grid); it doesn't matter where on the panto you find the highest point, since the design is repeating anyway, and put the needle in the quilt. That point on the quilt should match the same point on the design (if you quilted the last row fairly accurately). Then you unlock your 2 roller bars on the front of the frame (the backing & quilt top bars), lift the presser foot, and gently roll the take-up bar to roll up the quilt. While doing this, you watch the laser light move until it reaches the same point of the design in the lower section of the panto - it's usually drawn with a dashed line. Note: as you are rolling up the quilt, since the needle is still IN the fabric, the machine is rolling backwards as well. Once you reach that spot with the laser, you stop rolling the quilt. It is now at the correct position to quilt the next NESTING row. Take the needle out of the quilt and simply move the machine/laser to your starting point once again. (I marked my starting point on the painter's tape). When you are at the starting point, just as you did when you quilted the first row: needle down, bobbin thread up, start quilting.
This is very confusing if you are not actually seeing it. After Christmas, when I have the house back and time to do it, I'm going to film a video of this process with step-by-step instructions. I couldn't find a specific tutorial or video about lining up the second row of a pantograph so maybe someone else will find this information useful! Surely I was not the only one confused by written directions!
The end result is that I now have perfect rows of pantographs and understand how to get them! My next challenge is getting my tension perfect no matter which thread I use and achieving beautiful, perfectly even stitches! At least one part of the equation is figured out!
It's kind of difficult to see in the photos, but here is my first pantograph quilting...
