I love to piece. I participate in the boomerang swaps because I love to play with the colors and match patterns to fabrics. I own a simple Viking Saphire that does a great job and until last year, I quilted everything on it from baby to King size. I often ended up with a few small puckers on the back, but, as I only quilt for people I love, no one has ever said a word about them, except to oooh and aaahh over them. For Christmas last year, my DH rented time for me on the long arm at my LQS. The owner gave me a lesson on how to use it and off I went. I have quilted 4 large quilts with free motion that can best be described as the result of giving a toddler a marker. Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration and I get better with each one. The owners of the quilts haven't complained, so I'm good. The point of this rambling....do what you love. As Mother Theresa said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Not that quilting is a "small thing", but you get the idea. Quilt On!

Every craft or hobby involves different techniques and methods. Pantos and FMQ are just different methods of quilting and neither one is inferior to the other. Both require knowledge and skill and both produce beautiful results. You are definitely NOT 'less than' and anyone that thinks you are, is ignorant and does not deserve the time and effort that you put into your work. I don't have a longarm so I only do basic quilting on my DSM but my personal preference for longarming if I send my tops out, is panto.

Being a professional longarm quilter, my clients mainly ask for custom, but I LOVE pantographs and often do them on my own quilts. I just encourage you to do what you love.

I'm also a professional long armer, and while I prefer not to do pantos cause I find working at the back of the machine a little mmore difficult plus I can't use my chair and my neck always ends up hurting!, some quilts just SCREAM PANTO! Like the Celtic Soltice mystery quilt of Bonnie Hunter, and other very complex block designs.

OK, as one longarmer to another... tell whoever made you feel that way to not bother bringing their tops to you to finish!!

I pantograph.
I free-motion.
I even custom sometimes.

However...
I know of some people who only meander/stipple on their longarm because they are TERRIFIED of trying to do a pantograph.
I know of some people who only let the robot do their quilting - they don't FMQ, they don't panto, they don't do any of it "in person". Just "the robot".
Are either of these two groups of people "less than"?
No, NO, NNNNOOOOO!
And neither are YOU "less than"!!!

A pantograph, properly chosen to complement the "theme" of the quilt, is a beautiful thing. It often becomes an "I Spy" type of thing for the recipient.
Speaking of the recipient...
A charity quilt recipient, such as QOV, or Project Linus, or Quilts for Kids, will not look at a quilt and say "oh,gee... hmmm, that's just a panto". No, they're going to say, "OMG, how beautiful! Look at the sewing/stitching (we know they probably don't know our terminology)! Look at the fabrics! Look at this GIFT!!!"

As has been said many times, there are no quilt police.

Unfortunately, however, there ARE some quilt snobs. These are usually some of the same people who years ago said that a quilt made by machine (machine pieced and/or machine quilted) weren't "true" quilts.

As one longarmer to another, I salute you!! A well-done pantograph is a beautiful thing!!

Not everyone wants a custom pattern on their quilts. Jenny Doan said last week at a trunk show I attended that her company only does edge to edge with pantographs because she wants the quilters work to shine ...not the quilting itself.

no you are not less than! I am going to order the pantovision. I love doing the pantographs but hate not being able to see it. I think you are way too hard on yourself. Enjoy it and use the pantos

Like everything else in this world...there is room for all of us! I love hand quilting (and all of the uneven stitches...not to mention those who are able to stitch so tiny I can't even see them), Machine quilting, free motion, pantographs, and whatever else anyone comes up with. Celebrate your own creativity and enjoyment of our craft...let the rest go!

The very first quilt I ever made, I tied it. No fmq, no pantagrams, no stencils, no hoops or frames, or an thing but a long strand of yarn, and a fat needle.

That quilt might not have been as pretty or creative as the ones to follow, but on that day I became a full fledge honest to goodness 100% QUILTER!

Don't let anyone ever convince you that you are anything less.

Exactly! Well said Madquilter