8:30am - 11:30am
On Saturday, I had one more class in the lovely Gammill studio about Pantographs. In quilting, using a pantograph is where you take a paper that has a quilting pattern printed on it and lay it below the long arm on the table. Then you use the laser light on the longarm to follow the pattern on the paper. It allows a beginning quilter to achieve more intricate quilting patterns and helps make sure your quilting stays even and straight. Here's an example of a pantograph pattern:
On Saturday, I had one more class in the lovely Gammill studio about Pantographs. In quilting, using a pantograph is where you take a paper that has a quilting pattern printed on it and lay it below the long arm on the table. Then you use the laser light on the longarm to follow the pattern on the paper. It allows a beginning quilter to achieve more intricate quilting patterns and helps make sure your quilting stays even and straight. Here's an example of a pantograph pattern:
Pantographs are for continuous quilting so you don't stop sewing until the end of a line. The pattern can be basically any design you could draw without picking up your pencil. We broke into pairs and worked on tracing out a pantograph in thread on the longarm machines. Here's the sample I made, it came out pretty good I think:
See how nicely all the flowers are repeated? And it was SOO easy :) It looks way more complicated than it was and is definitely more interesting than my usual general meandering. Now, I have done pantographs before but they aren't exactly the easiest on my machine because I can't get to the back of my machine. When you do a pantograph you are actually using the handles behind the machine and sewing upside down/from the back. For my niece Aubrey's bed quilt, I made my own pantograph (drew a design in CAD and printed it out) but it was more difficult since I can't get to the back of my machine (it's wedged against the railing). Here's a pic of Aubrey's quilt where you can kind of see the arcs or half circles staggered in rows.
Overall I got to practice the right way to do pantographs and it was so easy and fun, and way more accurate than my cheating method. But it also inspired me, maybe I'd like to make/sell my own pantographs. We'll see... :)
12:30pm - 3:30pm
After my pantograph class, I had a short lunch break with Doreen and went and bought my Bejeweler that I mentioned before. Then I had one last hands on class called "Jiggling Jelly Rolls" where we were supposed to bring a jelly roll (40 strips of fabric, each 2.5" x 44", you can buy fabric pre-cut like this) and then we were going to make a quilt top. The first hour, the teacher went a little too slow teaching us how to make blocks and then even though I was one of the fastest sewers (but not most accurate or perfect) in the class, I only finished 12 blocks out of 48! Here's a few of the finished blocks I made, it's going to be an ADORABLE baby quilt!
12:30pm - 3:30pm
After my pantograph class, I had a short lunch break with Doreen and went and bought my Bejeweler that I mentioned before. Then I had one last hands on class called "Jiggling Jelly Rolls" where we were supposed to bring a jelly roll (40 strips of fabric, each 2.5" x 44", you can buy fabric pre-cut like this) and then we were going to make a quilt top. The first hour, the teacher went a little too slow teaching us how to make blocks and then even though I was one of the fastest sewers (but not most accurate or perfect) in the class, I only finished 12 blocks out of 48! Here's a few of the finished blocks I made, it's going to be an ADORABLE baby quilt!
3:30pm - 4:30pm
Finally, we were down to the very last session of classes you could take at this expo. Doreen and I went together to a lecture about how to do the Double Wedding Ring quilt. I've always wanted to do one and I even have a set of acrylic templates (hopefully they were a good set, I can't remember where I got them) but I've always been too intimidated to try one (and unsure of where to start). The lady showed us step by step, how to cut the pieces and then what order to put them together in (the most important part). She also gave us a few pointers on the seams and which fabric to put on top to help make the quilt come out great. If you've never seen a double wedding ring quilt and don't know what i'm talking about, here's an example of one (not done be me):
Finally, we were down to the very last session of classes you could take at this expo. Doreen and I went together to a lecture about how to do the Double Wedding Ring quilt. I've always wanted to do one and I even have a set of acrylic templates (hopefully they were a good set, I can't remember where I got them) but I've always been too intimidated to try one (and unsure of where to start). The lady showed us step by step, how to cut the pieces and then what order to put them together in (the most important part). She also gave us a few pointers on the seams and which fabric to put on top to help make the quilt come out great. If you've never seen a double wedding ring quilt and don't know what i'm talking about, here's an example of one (not done be me):
By the way, that is an Amish quilt that sold for about $600.
We also talked about a block called Cleopatra's Fan which Doreen was SUPER excited about because she bought the Cleopatra's Fan templates and instructions. The Cleopatra's Fan is really interesting because of how totally different it can look depending on the color and arrangement of the blocks. here's a few examples of the cleopatra's fan:
We also talked about a block called Cleopatra's Fan which Doreen was SUPER excited about because she bought the Cleopatra's Fan templates and instructions. The Cleopatra's Fan is really interesting because of how totally different it can look depending on the color and arrangement of the blocks. here's a few examples of the cleopatra's fan:
After our last class, we went to the final Daily Drawing but sadly we didn't win any machines, tools or other goodies - maybe next year. Exhausted and starving, we found a nearby Chipotle for dinner and then headed home. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to implement all the great things I learned! I heard they're going to have the same show in Las Vegas next year so that would be totally awesome for Me & Ryan and Al & Doreen to all go to Vegas for the weekend. The girls could sew while the boys gamble during the day and at night we could all hang out together, see the sights (I've never been), go to a show or two...sounds great right? I better start saving now, LOL. If anyone wants to go with us next year (assuming we just go to Lakeland again), I strongly encourage it. You can go just for a day for $10 and see all the vendors and try out the sewing machines or if you want to sign up for classes you pay per class so you can do as much or as little as you want and there was everything from apparel sewing, home decor, quilting, embroidery, you name it!
