What is the difference in allover, egde to egde, and freehand quilting? I thought it was all the same thing.

Free hand means hand guided, this is what we draw with the machine.
you can do pantographs free hand with a laser light.

All over is the same thing as e2e.

I have a Statler which means it is computerized, it does the moving of the machine. Many of the patterns I used free hand are in a digital program I use on my Statler. I just put in the patterns. you can look at many of the LAQ's here on the site. If you search the name mine is Suezquilts...

Enjoy this process. Searching this site is extremely interesting, get a cup of coffee.

I wish there were a term to separate free motion/freehand quilting that is not done with pantos, or stencils, or drawing first from those that are. They are lumped together which I think makes it very confusing,

It is subject to intepretation as well. My definition of freehand means it is 100% yours, not a panto at all! To me following a premarked design, be it a panto, a stencil or a drawing done on tissue paper is not free hand. Yes you are manipulating the machine without aid of a computer with your hands but you are simply tracing over a design not free handing it with no pre marking what so ever. In my mind the definition of freehand means NO MARKING and having NO PATTERN to follow.
E2E or End to End can be free handed or following a panto. An all over stipple or abstract design can be considered E2E as well as a pantograph with the same motif repeated from one end of the quilt to the other.

I think it should be this way, but there a lot of people that lump them together as freehand/free motion.

think about when we were in elementary school. What did the teacher call a drawing you did when you were not copying or tracing? In my day it was called a freehand drawing. Same with quilting. I think it always meant that it is just people use the terms fast and loose. Same with mixing meandering and stippling. A meander is that doodle that can run any gammit of sizes. Stippling is a known quilting term that has been around for centuries and it means close densely quilted design where the stitch direction changes every 2 to 3 stitches. Vastly different then a meander but a meander can be so tight and small on a quilt it resembles stippling. I think that is where the terms morphed and blended.

i've never heard that free hand meant computer stitched, panto, or quilting/groovy boards.

free hand in my local area is considered the quilter moving the sewing machine to make a design.

it can be done with temp. markings (chalk, water soluble pen, etc) on the quilt or not.

karen mctavish marks her quilts all the time and by your definition none of her work would be freehand?

here's a link to her quilting on youtube and you can clearly see that her top is completely marked with her quilt design

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE5yMzshkNI

Karen says on this youtube clip that she is using a ruler, so wouldn't it be rulerwork rather than freehand?

I am a longarmer and I do everything free hand and free motion.
My machine is not computerized.

Pantos is following a paper pattern from the back of the machine with a laser light. This can also be called edge to edge or E2E.

All over pattern or E2E can be either free hand or panto. If I do a free hand meandering, ie... leaves.

Custom work is free hand ,free motion using rulers and your imagination. Most LA use chalk or disappearing ink to mark certain areas with a hand drawn pattern.

Using pattern boards,groovy boards is used from the back of the machine with a stylus to make the over all pattern AKA E2E.

Hope this helps :-D