Hi , 

Being a machine quilting teacher is such a wonderful job. I often feel like I'm filling in the missing piece that takes us from a pieced quilt top to a finished, useful quilt. We have so many ways we can quilt our quilts now and I received a wonderful message from Doreen this week that just made my day:

I don't have a question, but a compliment! I applaud Leah Day for doing her paper pantographs. In using the loops one, it helped build my muscle memory & now I can do loopy loops without the paper! 

In using this also, it forced me to not be afraid of my Q'nique 15 Pro! I have had it 4 years not, but not 'really' used it much. I love it
now & have done 4 quilts! Thank you so much-your pantographs were just what I needed to start free motion quilting. 

~ from Doreen S

I was thrilled to hear that Doreen can now free hand quilt Loopy Line! Free hand quilting is the ability to quilt without marking or following a pattern. We memorize the rules of the free motion filler design and can quilt it anywhere on our quilts.

But as Doreen mentioned, it took a little while to get to this point and she used pantographs to help her learn the design. Repetition is the key!

Learn More About Pantograph Quilting

Pantograph quilting is a very fun quilting style where you follow a repeated pattern on printed paper using a laser light. This is a style of quilting that requires:

• Quilting on a frame
• Solid back table to support the pantograph design
• Laser light and rear handlebars so you can quilt from the back of your machine.

The basic idea behind pantograph quilting is to follow the line printed on paper using the laser light. The tricky part is evenly spacing the rows of the design, which is why I created an advancing system that allows you advance to the next area of your quilt and maintain consistent rows.

Click Here to find Pantograph Designs that are easy to keep consistent!

Of course, if you aren't quilting on a frame, or don't have a laser light or rear handlebars, we now have another method for quilting that can work for everyone.

Our Paper Quilting Stencils are another way to quilt following a line and these work for all types of quilting systems. You can quilt with stencils using normal free motion quilting on your sewing machine set in a table.

I also think using stencils is a little easier when using a hoop frame. Quilting a pantograph design on a king sized quilt on a Cutie Frame would take a lot of side-to-side advances, and that is tricky to keep straight and consistent.

By quilting from the front of your quilt, and quilting through the paper stencil and your quilt at the same time, you'll achieve the same look, but with a much easier advancing process!

The only downside about paper stencils is the extra step - tearing the paper away at the end. As you can see in the photo above, there are still tiny pieces of paper still caught in my stitching. After a trip through the washer and dryer, those little pieces will disappear, but I have to mention it because it seems to bug some quilters.

Remember, the goal with either Pantographs or Paper Stencils is to eventually memorize the flow of a design so you can quilt free hand - no marks, no lines, no guides, no paper.

Just in case you'd like to learn more about either style of quilting, click the links below to find detailed tutorials:

Quilting with Pantographs - How to Load Your Frame

Quilting with Pantographs - Partial First Row

Quilting with Pantographs - Evenly Spaced Rows

Quilting with Pantographs - Partial Last Row

Quilting a 4 Patch Baby Quilt with Stencils

Stagger Stencil Quilting Design on a Brick Baby Quilt

Custom Quilting with Stencils

Extra Awesome Deals on X Elite Longarms

We're nearing the end of the month and the end of an awesome sale on X Elite Longarms. This is the lowest price these machines have been all year, plus they come with a free accessory kit that includes over $1300 in awesome quilting gear!

Learn more about the X Elite Longarms:

Qnique 16X Elite - This would be a great starting longarm for a hobby quilter. With 16 inches between the needle and motor, you will be able to quilt a 12 inch quilt block in one pass. The motor and stitch regulator allows you to make 2100 stitches per minute, which is fast enough to keep up with you for years to come.

Longarm Machine - MSRP - $6499.95, Sale Price - $5049

Qnique 19X Elite - I personally own a Qnique 19X Elite and love this machine for the size, ability to quilt 17 inches at the start of a project, and the speed at 2600 stitches per minute. This is a longarm that most quilters just won't grow out of and if you bundle it with a frame that will grow with you too, like the Evolution Hoop Frame, you'll have a lifelong quilting system!

Longarm Machine - MSRP - $9499.95, Sale Price - $6999

Qnique 21X Elite - If I was forced to pick a favorite out of all of our Qnique longarms, it would have to be this 21X Elite. It's so fast, so big, so bright, and such a well-designed, solid machine. This machine is only compatible with the Evolution Hoop or Evolution Elite frames due to it's size. Having used both, if you have the space, I highly recommend setting the 21X Elite up on an Evolution Elite 12 foot - it's just the perfect quilting system - sturdy, solid, super fast and no limits on your creativity.

Longarm Machine - MSRP - $11499.95, Sale Price - $9549
 

Check out the free accessories included with your X Elite Longarm this month:

That's it for this week, . It is a joy to be able to teach so many different techniques, but always with the goal of helping you finish your quilts. I off to play with computerized quilting today and we're heading to Hart Square for some hand quilting on Saturday. In my mind, a bit of modern technology, a bit of the simple past, a bit of everything makes quilting the awesome craft it is!

Let's go quilt,
 

Leah Day