How do I quilt with this pattern?
You’re in the right place if you want to learn more about extra wide (extended width) pantographs.
These workhorse pantos are easy to overlook even though at 140″ wide, they’re HUGE. In my software, they render like this!!! How can you consider an extra wide pattern when the details are so tiny?
But extra wide pantographs can cover a lot of quilt, quickly.
They really come into their own when your machine likes stitching both right to left and left to right, though every extra wide pattern I make includes left to right and back and forth versions.
Extra Wide pantograph set up - Video walkthrough
I love extra wide pantos so much, I made my first ever tutorial video/demo. I’m setting up an extra wide pantograph on CS7 software. It’s a quick 5 minute rundown using my Treads panto. If video’s not you thing, I’ve written a step by step walkthrough for you as well.
Save this page if extra wide pantos are a mystery to you! And tell me what you think. I already think I can make lots of improvements in video quaity 😂.
Extra Wide pantograph set up - Written walkthrough
1) Create a quilt top outline ON YOUR SCREEN with your quilt top measurements as a visual guide (eg 70” x 70” square).
How I do that – I use a saved geometric square pattern, placed with repeat patterns, using the flyout menu settings: 1 repeat across, 1 repeat down, orientated to top left, put your quilt top measurements in the “set pattern size”, fields. Uncheck freeze aspect ratio if your measurements aren’t a square.
This gives me a visual of the whole quilt area on screen. Click ok to exit repeat patterns.
2) With your extra wide (extended width) pattern selected, click repeat patterns on your screen. Follow the screen prompts to click the top left start point on your quilt top with your machine head.
Patterns will populate your screen and a flyout menu for repeat patterns will open on the right hand side of your screen. Heres what to check: Turn “set point location” to Point type: Startpoint (at the very top of the flyout).
Your flyout menu settings are: 1 repeat across, ? repeats down. (Down repeat number ? = how many vertical repeats cover the quilt top area on your screen.
DON’T CLICK OK YET.
Make your quilting look pretty with effective spacing
3) Zoom in and look closely at the spacing between rows.
Now look at the repeat patterns flyout menu and under “set spacing” adjust the spacing.
Hey, if you’re using my patterns, the row gap number is within your stitching program already, in the copyright details. It’s also in a PDF in the pattern file. It’s ok if it’s a negative number. On Treads it’s -.75″.
Input the number or manually adjust the spacing make it look good.
4) Make sure the piecing and pattern size don’t conflict.
NOTE: The width of the pattern will be wildly huge… 140”! It looks weird, but it’ll be alright.
5) Click “ok” to exit the repeat patterns menu when you’re happy with the spacing, density, and coverage.
6) Select the outline you made in step 1, of your total quilt top.
7) Convert it to a boundary.
8) Select all your patterns, then zoom in again and do any pantograph shuffling with your nudge keys ⬅️➡️⬇️⬆️. Use the original geometric square you made as a guide.
Click off and push escape to de-select everything after finishing these micro adjustments.
9) Decide to keep or delete the geometric square you used earlier to mock up your quilt area.
It’s a useful guide for checking how square your quilt top stays as you quilt, but not necessary to keep because its not an accurate representation of your quilt top. If you keep it, toggle it to a sewn pattern from now on, NOT a boundary. I usually keep it, but make sure it stays a sewn pattern. UNLESS I want to relocate my pattern, when I temporarily convert it to a boundary so that it stays put.
Mark your quiltable space with the machine head
When you’ve finished doing any rolling, basting, adjusting, and relocating, anything that’ll shift the quilt (and after you’ve done your tension test…)
10) Use your machine head to click out an accurate boundary for your available quilting area.
Using the "FILL" feature in CS7
11) Select the first pattern, and the boundary (k or l) together.
12) Use the “fill” feature. You can right click anywhere on screen for it, find it in your icon menu, or in your drop down menu under “features”. This will trim the pattern to the boundary you made of your quilt top in step 10.
Before you stitch on the quilt...
13) Look at your screen, count how many rows you can stitch in the space you marked with your head. Select every row outside or half outside your stitchable area and toggle them sewn.
Did you know you can join the patterns together after fill, by drawing a small line between them, snapping the ends together and connecting them with order join? This makes the machine stitch the entire space in one pass, if you can stitch both directions. Use fill again if you scribbled outside the quilt with your line.
14) Repeat for each pattern in your stitching space, sometimes it’s only 1!
15) Check stitch paths using F2, looking for over stitching around the edges.
16) Are you happy? Yay! Start your machine and stitch!
Roll, relocate, and repeat steps 5-11.
TLDR? Watch the video here.
I’m thrilled we’ve hung out together a little. If you know a quilter who like this, share it with them! Have something to share? Pop in below! Want to add Treads to your library? Here’s a boost.
