This is a slightly different renter roundup post. Here, I want to show you just how different one pantograph can look depending upon what your top is like. All three of these quilters used the Heart Fancy pantograph, and you will see how different it looks depending upon the top itself.

I often talk about letting the fabric be the star of the quilt. In this traditional lattice quilt, Vivian has used a very densely-patterned floral fabric that doesn't really leave much room for the pantograph to be visible. The pale green lattice between the flowers is relatively narrow, so there isn't much negative space, either. The quilting will provide texture, but otherwise will pretty much be in the background. Vivian chose a thread that blended well with the flowers and didn't stand out on the lattice. Pam's quilt has more negative space than Vivian's. This is a design called Wallflower by Missouri Star Quilt Company and every block is designed to use a feature fabric and a background fabric. Pam made this for a friend who was expecting a baby, so the colors are fairly light and show the quilting well. You can see more of the design of Heart Fancy in this quilt, and it expresses a sentiment well to the family. Finally, Marie's quilt is all about hearts. Here, her primary design element is the group of hearts in the center. Using the Heart Fancy pantograph just continues the theme! Marie used a blue thread in a medium value to blend across the light, medium and dark values of this quilt. And just look at the incredible texture the quilting adds to her blue micro fleece backing fabric! For more on quilting with cuddle fabrics, check out this Beginner's Guide to Machine Quilting article. If your quilt has a theme that you want to carry forward with your quilting design (and we don't have the perfect pantograph here), you are always welcome to bring your own pantograph or freehand design along when you come to Quilted Joy to rent our machines. There are literally thousands of paper pantographs available - we recommend the selection at Urban Elementz, but there are several other companies that specialize in pantograph sales. Happy quilting!