I think they are closer to free motion as you guide the longarm following the laser light. If you have a computer you just select and let the machine do the stitching while you watch.

I got bored really quickly with my embroidery machine because all I do is change threads.

I love doing free motion quilting on my long arm but I am in business now so I was thinking a compter would make me more productive. You can free motion a design and record it and repete it in different areas of the quilt.

I prefer FMQ it;s not so comericial looking !!!I like good ole!country look

Ditto and this is the only kind of quilting I do. I don't like the lazer pantos at all. NOT going to spend 15K to get a computer, LOL

I like both in the right place but would be doing the quilting myself.

i do all my own quilting but if i were to send it out i would expect the "professional" to be more experienced then myself and do it all free hand.

if i wanted robotics i'd buy the setup myself because it would pay for itself over time.

Pantographs are long designs on paper that you follow with a laser light...they are generall edge to edge, same design over the entire quilt. I use them occasionally, but prefer to be at the front of my machine, looking at the quilt and with a panto you are at the back of the machine, looking at the pantograph. This is okay, until you run out of bobbin thread and do an entire row with no bobbin! Happens to us all. FM or free motion is done from the front of the machine, you are looking at the quilt and I prefer that, and ruler work and stencil work falls into this category. Then there are design boards. These are boards with grooves in them and there is a stylist on the back of the machine that fits into the groove and the machine follows along due to the grooves the stylist is following. I use these quite a bit and I do them standing in front of the machine...these are pretty much a "no brainer" for me. I will use any method I have available to me to gain the design I want onto the quilt. FM (free motion) is also the term used for quiling on the home sewing machine with the feed dogs dropped and moving the fabric yourself. It all accompishes the same end, connecting top, batting and backing together in a pleasing (hopefully :) ) pattern. Hope this clears it up for you, if not, ask again :)
Michelle

As a computerized long armer please don't believe we just sit back and watch the machine quilt there is a whole lot more to computerized long arming than that.... :-)

Absolutely!!! No more than a cruise control can drive your car.... Just when you have things figured out, you get a curve!

First of all I don't have the funds for a computerized sysyem, but then if I did I wouldn't get one. I LOVE to do freehand designs and feel like the quilt is more a piece of artwork and when I quilt it I'm using the thread as my paintbrush - goofy right?

I also don't use pantos graphs and thanks to a class with Linda McCuen I found out it's allright to do everything right up front! This way I can see when and if the thread breaks (even the best quality will occasionally break), if there's a spot I want to avoid or a loose seam I need to put an extra stich in.

When I do custom work I do use tempalte and rulers to guide me but everything is freehand