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Sharon's Filler Quilting

Author: Sharon Bouchonville

Suppose you have an area on your quilt that you want to fill with stippling-like quilting, but something a bit more fancy. Here is an idea, using a pantograph to fill the space, even if it is a really odd shape. I did this to fill in a really odd heart-like triangle on a quilt with beautiful results.

First, you must choose a pantograph that is evenly spaced, and the rows are pretty straight, such as Rebecca's Rose by Patricia E. Ritter, or Flowering Ferns by Patricia E. Ritter.

The first part of the booster will create a large block of background fill that you can save for any time you need it. The second part is how to use it to fill in an odd shaped area of the quilt. To best learn part two, load a quilt sandwich on your frame with an odd shaped block drawn on it.

Let me know what you think if you try it.

Part One: Create the Background

  1. Design/Sew Quilt
  2. Start New
  3. Pantograph
  4. Enter Rectangle Manually
  5. Width 42, enter. Length 24, enter. Continue
  6. Finished
  7. Select a panto pattern - the same pattern for both odd and even rows Continue
  8. Adjust the GAP so that the rows look evenly balanced. Row Height 2.5" (Two and a half inches) Finished
  9. Set transition to continuous (by using the plus or minus button) Accept Yes
  10. Add/Edit pattern combine patterns
  11. Select the top row, continue Select the second row, swap start/end points, continue, continuous stitch line Select the third row, continue, continuous stitch line

(What you are doing is combining all the patterns in the block to make it one continuous pattern. You have to swap start/end points anytime you see the long pink line across the pattern indicating that the quilter would have to sew all the way across to get to the next start point) Continue selecting all the rows in this manner until all the rows are combined. Finished

  1. Finished
  2. Save Quilt/Pattern
  3. Save a pattern from the quilt Touch the pattern on the screen Continue
  4. Type a name for the pattern Enter
  5. Select a catalog for the pattern (I made a new catalog called "backgrounds" where I have saved several of these blocks.) Select
  6. Return to main menu, by touching the back arrow. If it asks if you want to save the quilt, you can select NO.

Part two: Fill an odd space with your background, using your quilter and some practice fabric

  1. Design/Sew Quilt
  2. Start New
  3. Block Pattern
  4. Mark on Quilt. Move the needle around the block you have drawn, pressing the OK button at several different spots on the drawing. Finished
  5. Select the pattern you made in part one. Continue
  6. Scale: Change to make the block of background completely cover the block you created in step 4. Move: Move the pattern within the block until you have the most pleasing arrangement at the block edges, realizing that the parts of the pattern outside of the boundaries of your block will later be clipped off. Finished Finished
  7. Add/Edit block
  8. Add Block
  9. Clipping Block
  10. Select the background pattern Continue
  11. Select Existing Block Touch any point on the block you created in step 4. Continue Finished
  12. Set transition to Continuous, using the plus and minus buttons Accept Yes Finished
  13. Sew Quilt Select the pattern Continue Sew Quilt

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