lindaschipper

Had a thought pop into my head last night in bed. I'm still finding pantographs more difficult than free motion meandering and thought perhaps the direction I'm doing it could make a difference. When meandering on the frame I quilt left to right....when doing a pantograph should I also do left to right...right to left....or doesn't it matter? Just trying to find some happiness with my pantographs.

dunster

Most longarms function best if they are moving left to right on the frame, measuring the direction of motion from the front. So if you're doing a pantograph you would start from the right side as you're standing at the back.

JustAbitCrazy

What dunster said.

GingerK

I was over at a friend's and helped long arm a charity quilt. The pantograph was 'swirly' and one repeat was made up of two passes--the first part going from right to left and then the second going from left to right. It was interesting to note that the other helper preferred the right to left while I preferred left to right.

I am not a longarmer--really just learning the basics, and this is probably a very silly question--but since the machine can go both ways, why does it matter which direction the pantograph is stitched?

Wanabee Quiltin

I’m new to long arm work and I do my pantograph first row right to left and then back left to right. I’m curious like GingerK, does it matter?

Peckish

I don't know, but it's a very common issue that a lot of machines sew better going left to right.

bkay

Standing in front or behind?

bkay

dunster

You can go any direction with a longarm, but the stitch is best formed when the machine is moving from left to right (from the front of the machine). It has to do with how the thread comes off the bobbin. I heard a technical explanation once but can't remember the specifics. If you're quilting fairly slowly or changing directions frequently you may not see the difference, but as your speed increases you're more likely to have skipped stitches, shredding, or poor stitch quality (especially on the back) when going across the quilt from right to left. You may also see more needle flexing, which causes skipped stitches.

Here's another discussion on the topic on this board - Is a Long Arm quilting machine meant to be used left to right?

pewa88

My machine sews best from right to left when stitching out a panto. (back of the machine) Even if there are two passes before rolling the quilt I do the second pass right to left also. The panto designs are made to interlock and this will occur whether you go R to L or L to R. When stitching from the front of the machine I stitch from left to right. As dunster said above, the machine stitches better when going left to right.

JustAbitCrazy

You have been given very good answers here. Without being technical, it's easiest for the machine to make a perfect stitch when moving in the right to left direction when standing at the back of the machine following a panto. Remember, longarm machines are basically just like a domestic machine, only bigger. Sewing machines are not made to stitch while in motion. They are made to be stationary while the fabrics move beneath the needle. But if the machine is in motion horizontally, it can most easily make the stitch in that direction (R to L while at the back of the machine), as opposed to the opposite direction.