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Pantograph

Contents

Overview

Setting up a pantograph is really easy with IQ. A pantograph pattern is one that goes from edge to edge, over the entire quilt top, disregarding piecing lines. You can also use a pantograph to quilt just the center of a quilt, leaving the borders for a different treatment. Pantograph is also used to set up background fills with IQ.

Pantograph Setup

  1. Touch Design/New Quilt
  2. Touch Start New
  3. Touch Pantograph
  4. You have 4 choices on how to define your block. I use Enter Rectangle Manually to set up a whole quilt.
  5. Define the block using whichever method you chose. IQ will show you the Modify Block screen, and at this point you can align the block (quilt) to the quilt on the machine if you'd like. Instructions on Align to the Current Needle Location will tell you how.
  6. IQ will take you into the Pattern Selector, where you can choose your panto pattern. You need to select which pattern you want for the even rows, and which one to use for odd rows. Note that you can select two entirely different patterns - there are some interesting combinations you can use to create whole new designs.
  7. Now you go into the Modify Pattern screen, where you can adjust several characteristics of your design. First adjust Row Gap to bring the rows to a pleasing spacing. Then adjust the Row Height - watch the Pattern Height number! That's the amount of throat space you'll need to execute the pattern.
  8. When you're done adjusting everything, touch Finished.
  9. Now you can sew the quilt! Remember to align the on-screen quilt to the quilt on the machine before you sew (use the Realign button).

Sewing the Quilt

  1. Touch Sew Quilt.
  2. IQ will ask you to select pattern(s) to quilt. Choose the first row to quilt, and touch Continue.
  3. IQ will ask you to select the next pattern(s) to quilt. If you want to add another row to quilt in this pass, select the next row. Most likely you will notice a long pink line connecting the end point of the first row to the start point of the next row. This indicates that a jump stitch will be used to connect these two rows.
  4. To eliminate the long jump stitch, touch Swap Start/End Points. Now you'll see that pink jump stitch is now going down the right edge of the quilt.
  5. IQ will ask how you want to connect the patterns. Choose the method that suits you best: Jump Stitch, Stop to Cut Threads, or Continuous sewing.
  6. When you're done selecting patterns to quilt, touch Sew Quilt. IQ will move to the start position of the first pattern you selected (they're numbered, so you can see the sequence that they will be quilted) and take a single stitch. Pull up the bobbin thread and secure it.
  7. Check your speed settings for proper stitch length. Remember that stitch length is determined by a combination of your longarm speed and the IQ speed. The longarm speed setting determines how fast the needle moves up & down, and the IQ speed (in inches per second) determines how fast the longarm is being moved across the quilt. A combination of these gives you stitch length. Also please keep in mind that very intricate designs require a slower IQ speed to ensure accuracy. Running a very fancy formal feather pattern at 2.0 inches/second is likely going to be a little sloppy.
  8. When you're happy with the speed settings, touch Start. IQ will sew the entire sequence.

Advancing the Quilt and Realigning

When IQ is finished sewing the first quilting sequence, as described above, you're ready to advance the quilt.

  1. Cut the threads and advance the quilt, leaving a bit of the already-quilted pattern showing (you'll use this as reference in the following steps).
  2. Touch Realign, and follow the on-screen prompts:
  3. Find a reference point on the screen (in the last row quilted), which matches something in the already-quilted design that you can still see. Touch it on the screen, and then touch Continue.
  4. Now IQ will ask you where that on-screen point is located on the real quilt (move needle to reference point). Take the needle to that point, and touch OK.

IQ is now realigned and ready to sew the next rows.

Quilting the Next Row

  1. Touch Sew Quilt.
  2. You'll notice that the row(s) you just sewed is/are still green (which means it is selected for quilting). To sew the next row down, touch Undo (as many times as you need to turn those already-sewn rows red).
  3. Select the row(s) you want to quilt and touch Sew Quilt. Remember to follow the on-screen prompts!

Clippingthe Edge of the Pattern

If you notice that IQ is stitching way off the edge(s) of the quilt top, you can clip the rows to remove excess pattern.

  1. Once you're in the sewing screen (i.e., IQ is a Start button away from quilting), you'll see a Clip/Mark button on the right. Touch this button.
  2. You'll see a screen that shows the pattern(s) you have selected for stitching. The green cross hairs indicate the needle position. You'll also notice 4 dashed lines, one on each side of the pattern. These are the clip lines.
  3. Touch one of the dashed clip lines and notice that you can drag them to clip off part of the pattern. You can eyeball the clipping line, or use the needle to show IQ where to clip. To do this, pull the machine over to the side you want to clip, touch a dashed clipping line, and touch Snap to Needle. You'll notice the dashed clipping line hops over to the needle crosshairs. You can move the needle location, and it'll change where the clipping line is. When you're happy with the clipping (use the edge of the quilt to know where to put the clip), touch OK.
  4. IQ will now ask for a Restart location. Simply take the needle to the Start point (marked by an "S") - watch the screen to find the "S" - and touch OK. IQ will take a single stitch, allowing you to pull up the bobbin thread and secure it.
  5. Touch Start, and IQ will sew the row and clip it at the edge that you defined.

Repeat this entire sequence until your quilt is completely quilted. Remember to read the on-screen directions.

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