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Old 06-28-2020, 10:03 AM
  #22  
GEMRM
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South West Ontario
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Originally Posted by Sephie View Post
I debated posting about this but decided tonight that even though it's a lot of work, it's possible you may still be interested I am assuming you are quilting on a sit down mid arm - I feel like I remember you saying you have a sit down machine like a Sweet Sixteen?

As someone else mentioned, Urban Elementz has a great selection of pantographs for sale either as digital or paper. You can purchase a digital copy (make sure it has a pdf) which you could then print on paper. Depending on your preferred mode of stenciling, you could then just print a paper copy and punch through with an unthreaded needle and use a pounce. However, what I like to do and is much more of a materials and time investment is this:

With a laminating machine, I laminate an empty sleeve to make a 9x12in clear plastic (3mm) see through sheet so that it's thinner than the regular template plastic we normally buy for quilting. A laminating machine is approximately $20 on Amazon and depending on what kind you get, may come with some laminating sheets already. Laminating plastic is also perfectly clear, which I love. I trace the pantograph onto the sheet that has been run through the laminator with marker, and then cut out the marker line with a swivel x-acto knife so that I make a true stencil where I can see through it and line up the pantograph easier. You have to cut only a few inches, then skip a gap before the next lines of cutting so that your stencil stays together. If you've seen other stencils, you'll see how it's not just one simple continuous line because then all the little bits in the middle would fall out.The good news is that it's pretty reusable, so once you've made a stencil for a pantograph, you'll have it forever! It does take awhile though and involves other materials for preparation. I then can painstakingly mark out the entire row of quilting with a Crayola Ultra Washable Marker and quilt the entire row before lining up the next one. I glue baste, so I can start at the top of the quilt and work into the center, then flip it around and continue working from the center down to the bottom. You could mark the whole quilt at once if you want to but I'm usually too interested in jumping right into the quilting!

That's a very good idea and a really thorough explanation! Handy too! Thank you for posting your idea/method.
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