Pantographs
 

I've had a longarm for about 6 years. I don't quilt for hire, just myself friends & family. I love FMQing, but have a couple of Christmas-y quilts that I would like to do a seasonal panto on. I've never done a pantograph, and I'm trying to find a good tutorial on lining up the rows so they nest and look good.
Also, would it be really difficult to do a panto in the body of the quilt, then FMQ the border? I'm thinking determine the start & stop of the center, then mark the panto?
Any other tips like stitches per inch?

I have done pantos for many yrs. I line up the first row with top of quilt on leader, start one side with beginning of panto and usually have to fake the end ( I put under the clear plastic that is attached to my table) I use an wer dry marker to redo the end. If it's a straight top/ bottom of design i use two finger space between rows, if it's a wavy, there's usually a guide from previous row to guide you...and bottom row rarely ends up even with a panto, so there too I redraw to matech edge of quilting area....just my way

Good to know, I just bought a couple of pantos, but my set up did not come with the plastic shield. I do want to keep the pantos in good shape.

Princess: youtube has a couple of good tutorials on pantographs.
JulieM

Can someone come to my house and demo a pantograph. I will provide lunch, wine, nice dessert, etc. I am afraid to jump into it on my own :( I live close to LAX.

Ooh, I'd love that. Can you fly me out?

I do pantos in the middle of the quilt with custom borders all the time. Just takes a little more time. I use a piece of blue painter's tape on the plastic shield over the pantograph to mark the edges of the left and right borders (a whole strip of blue tape makes sure I know where that edge is so I won't go beyond it). When I get close to that right edge, I will stop (needle down) and peek over to the front just to make sure I'm in the right spot. I always check where my stitches are at the end of the row before I tie off just in case I need to go further or even take out a few stitches. You've got to keep checking where your border edges are for each pass unless your quilt is perfectly square or you have it perfectly straight on the frame. Shift happens. Good luck, it gets easier with practice.

I have taken a plastic binder/folder and cut it into strips about 2" across. I lay these strips on the panto to mark the beginning and the end of the panto row. No marking necessary.

I have done a few pantos. Geri B instruction are good. Just make sure you line up the panto with the top of quilt. Take into consideration the height of the panto in relation to the bottom of the quilt. you might have to do a little math. The other thing I would suggest is doing a quilt you don't really care about. I use charity quilts for practice. They don't care and you perfect your skills.
Carslo I am down south from you, if you are serious let me know.

...oh, let me add...buy panto with soft curvy lines...not regimental straight or too tight designs....it becomes hypnotic sometimes the eye can lose itself if too tight a design. Don't panic and try to stay " right on that line", if you go off a bit who's going to know.....if its a new design or one I have not used in awhile, I do a "dry run". Laser on, but not motor and do the design across quilt, just so it sort of imbedded in you hand, eye, mind.....then hit the GO button.......

and not all pantos are of equal quality--good ones will be drawn in a way that they show your start/stop points so lining up your laser pointer so that the rows interlock is easy.