Know Your Quilting Style Options!

Welcome!

The other day I heard a couple of quilters talking about which design to choose for a baby quilt that was ready for quilting. They loved how the flowers of one design accented the quilt top, but because of the design’s size, they decided their second choice would probably work better.

I pictured the quilt on the frame, all ready for quilting. I started setting up the Pro-Stitcher in my mind. Hmmm… Why was the design size an issue? Just resize it, right?

Then I heard them continue, talking about how easy it would be to follow the pattern for the second design … it flowed smoothly but had good pause points. Oh! The baby quilt was going to be quilted using a pantograph pattern!

Personally, I’ve done free-motion, pantograph, and computerized quilting, but my go-to style is computerized. And I usually use edge-to-edge designs versus doing custom quilting. One of my friends still loves to do pantograph quilting and is trying out rulers.

So many options! How about you? What’s your go-to quilting style? I thought it would be fun to review all the options we have for quilting on the longarm. Maybe it will prompt you to stretch yourself … to try a new style of quilting or revisit one you haven’t used in a while.

Three Styles of Quilting

When we hold a Beginning Longarm Rental Class at The Quilting Connection, we introduce the quilters to the three styles of quilting: free-motion, pantograph and computerized.

Free-motion quilting

I think of free-motion quilting as drawing on fabric. You stand at the front of the machine and move it as you want. 

Many quilters find free-motion quilting fun, but it can be challenging, especially when you are first starting out. If that’s where you’re at, stay with it! There are several reasons to add this style of quilting to your skill set. These include:

Free-motion allows you to customize and personalize your quilting.
In some instances, free-motion quilting can be the most precise, accurate style to use.
Free-motion is the easiest way to add background fills to small or odd-shaped spaces.
Tips for free-motion success? First and foremost: practice, practice, practice! Start with one or two shapes, and as you build up your comfort level with them, add another. Draw and doodle designs when you’re not actually quilting. And stay positive … celebrate your growth!

Free-motion quilting with rulers

Another way to do free-motion quilting is to use rulers. These tools allow you to stitch precise lines, curves, circles and other designs. Using rulers can elevate your free-motion quilting to a whole new level!

You do need a few additional equipment to do ruler work.

First, you need quilting rulers. There are many sizes and styles to choose from. However, make sure you use a ruler designed for machine quilting.  It needs to be at least ¼” tall so it won’t slip under your machine’s foot while you’re quilting.

Likewise, invest in a ruler foot for your longarm. The ruler foot has a taller profile than your machine’s standard foot. It provides additional stability.

Because you’re following a repeating pattern as you move the machine, some quilters find this style of quilting helpful in building the skills and confidence needed to transition to free-motion quilting.

Again, you need some additional equipment if you’re going to do pantograph quilting.

First, you need to purchase a ‘quilt from the back kit’ for your longarm. This adds the back set handlebars that allow you to guide the machine. It also includes the laser light that you use to follow the pattern.

Then, you also need to purchase the pantograph patterns. These patterns come on 12’ rolls of paper that span the back table of your machine.

There are a couple of points to keep in mind when you use the pantograph style of quilting.

First, because you are following a printed pattern, you don’t have the option to change the size of the design you’re quilting.

And you need to be realistic. You will not be able to ‘stay on the line’ with the laser light and follow the pattern perfectly. That’s okay! No one will see the printed pattern to compare it against your stitching. Just have fun!

Computerized quilting

The popularity of computerized quilting continues to grow. You don’t always hear the term computerized quilting. Rather, you’ll often hear the name of a particular manufacturer’s software. For Handi Quilter, that’s Pro-Stitcher or Pro-Stitcher Lite. For APQS, it’s Quilt Path.

Last year, 61% of our longarm sales included computerized software. The most popular model purchased was Handi Quilter’s Moxie XL with the Pro-Stitcher Lite software. And 84% of the quilters renting time on our longarm machines chose computerized quilting.

Why the popularity? Computerized software offers precision, creativity and efficiency. When using this style of quilting, you load your quilt, choose the computerized options you want, and let the machine do the stitching. (There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basic idea.)

Computerized quilting gives you access to hundreds of quilt designs and lets you modify those designs to best fit your quilt. It often allows you to complete your quilting faster and more efficiently. And you can create your own designs to personalize your quilting.

A longarm set up to do computerized quilting will need the quilting software, computerized designs and communication capabilities to run the machine. A computer tablet is attached to the longarm itself, and a track system runs along the back table to guide the longarm’s carriage.

If you’d like more information on computerized quilting, you can start here:

APQS blog post

Why choose Quilt Path                                                          01-31-25

Handi Quilter blog post

What’s the Difference Between Pro-Stitcher Premium and Pro-Stitcher Lite?

                                                                                              09-07-24

Okay, I’ve described the three styles of quilting: free-motion, pantograph and computerized. But you’ll also hear two other terms when quilters talk about longarm quilting: edge-to-edge and custom. If you’re new to quilting, these terms may add some confusion. Let’s clear that up!

Edge-to-Edge and Custom Quilting

Edge-to-edge quilting is also known as all-over quilting or border-to-border quilting.

With edge-to-edge quilting, you choose a design that is used over the entire quilt. You begin quilting at the upper left corner, quilt a complete row, advance the quilt and repeat until you reach the bottom right corner, covering the complete the quilt.

You can use any of the three styles of quilting to do an edge-to-edge design.

When you custom quilt, you are choosing specific, individual designs that are tailored to specific areas of your quilt. You may be quilting varying designs in each block, the sashings or in the borders. Therefore, this can be the most time intensive method of longarm quilting.

You can custom quilt using either free-motion or computerized quilting.

Breathe! Lots of information again today! Are you thinking of trying … or retrying … another style of quilting? Maybe you came up with a different idea of how to finish your next quilt?! Stretch those quilting muscles a little! And I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Please remember, if you ever have ANY questions or want additional information about ANY of the products and services we offer, please call us at (262) 723-6775 or email us at info@QuiltingConnection.com.

You can also visit us online at QuiltingConnection.com or in person at 21 Adams Street in Elkhorn, WI (usually M-F 9-4, please call to confirm we’re open) or 1017 W. Northland in Appleton, WI (W, Th & F 10-4, S 10-3).

Finally, check out our blog at QuiltingConnection.com/blog and our Facebook posts.

And please share your thoughts and questions. I’d love to hear from you!

Angie