Wednesday, June 3, 2015

WIP Wednesday - Panto-monium

pan·de·mo·ni·um
pandəˈmōnēəm/noun
wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar.
Don't we all experience a little pandemonium in our lives from time to time? 
Well, I'm in the middle of my first bout of "pantomonium."
Last summer I was the lucky and thankful recipient of a Grace Quilting frame. You can read my original post here for the background story.
The original nylon tracks were a bit bent and beat up from years of use and all the set-ups and break-downs that had occurred over the years so I took some advice I found on the Grace Machine Quilting Yahoo Group and replaced them with stainless steel rods.
It only cost me $16! Only because I got the insider price for being a general contractor. Cheap good will for them because it worked. We do plan to do business with them next time we have the need.


I have wanted to try some pantograph work since I got the frame but was hindered by the poor tracking. The steel really upped the maneuverability of the carriage, but it is still not akin to a mid or long arm setup.  I felt it was time to try my hand using a panto since I had the laser and the stylus for such work.

I chose this Free Lisa H. Calle download since it has a wide open sweeping design that looked fairly simple. It was a good choice.

I loaded on the Heather Ross Crafty Cloe piece I bought off the sale table at Hancock's (not of Paducah) to use for practice. I have to say that I have gotten quite adept at loading quilts on the frame. This one is just about perfect and that gave me hope that I might be able to maneuver the carriage a bit more gracefully with my new tracks considering this will be my third quilt since the upgrade.


No such luck. I have a long way to go but I am hoping that once it comes off the frame all the little wobbles will blend together and not be so obvious.

It is such a good thing I am not a perfectionist. I just love the process too much to give up when things don't look perfect. 

This quilt will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House and I know one day there will be a little girl who will fall in love with that spunky little girl on a unicorn. 

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7 comments:

  1. How fun! Such a sweet fabric too! Don't forget we have to practice to get better!
    *Found via 2015 New Quilt Bloggers Hop*

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  2. Nice job! I am trying to get better on my mom's longarm---it is so much harder than it looks. I have not tried a pants yet, but she enjoys them.

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  3. I'm still pretty clueless about pantos and long and mid arms, but I'm excited for you. :) It all looks amazing to me!

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  4. It doesn't matter that it's not perfect, at least you are trying. Keep practicing and most important have fun doing it!

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  5. Perfection can be boring! I have a Grace frame too, but haven't got the right place to set it up yet. I have a pretty massive table that my machine sits down into, so that's made free motion fairly easy to handle. Things like pantos are out though.

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  6. Once it is washed, you will notice the texture more than anything. I have found that what looks like a simple panto, can be problematic! Look for designs that do not have any areas that are touching or really close. Also steer clear of anything with straight lines or perfect circles or places that need to be perfectly parallel, same for symmetrical patterns. I look for things that look random and no one will notice if you strayed from the panto design a bit. once you have lots of practice, go back to this design and you will see a bi difference!

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    1. Thanks for all the advice. I didn't think about the touching lines. Straight lines and perfect circles, thought of that. So many have such small detail and with my rather clunky set up those are out. This one was BIG and that was my main reason for choosing it even though it had a circular detail. Love all of your QOV work! You are such an inspiration. Thanks

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