Chandy Digital Quilting Design on a Ruby Star Society Spring Sew Along Swatch Quilt

First thing's first. It's pronounced shandy.

I didn't want to spell it with an "s" because I think the descending circles give off big chandelier energy and wanted to maintain that attribute as part of the name. Also, I believe there are other chandelier named pantographs, so Chandy seemed like a fun way to distinguish this one.

As far as other design attributes, this pattern features repeated lines at opposing angles and at different intervals that provide interesting texture. Throw in some circles, and you get a dynamic result! 

The interplay of the rows is central to the design, so make sure to read the technical details before using this digital pantograph.



True story: I stitched probably a good 20" of another design (that I'll release soon) on this quilt before I decided it was all wrong and unpicked everything. It actually could have been cute at a smaller scale, but against the simple shapes of the patchwork, I felt the quilting needed a bit more oomph. That's when I tried out this Chandy design for the first time and liked the overall effect so much more than the first one I tried. 

I'll share more of that process later, but the takeaway was that Chandy was a great choice for this modern quilt, especially for adding complexity and depth to simple patchwork.

The Quilt

I used the Swatch pattern from Ruby Star Society to make this quilt. They've been using this very simple, beginner friendly pattern for their Spring 2023 Sew Along. It's a great pattern for featuring awesome fabrics. Speaking of which...

I used a fat quarter bundle of Reverie by Melody Miller. The prints are so much fun and I feel that a pattern like this allows them to shine.

I picked out the fabrics from the bundle that I wanted to incorporate and cut a bunch of rectangles. I love when the cutting is super simple and then you can just play and arrange... and rearrange, of course.

Once I got the layout for the top sorted, I used the rectangles that didn't make their way into the top and seamed them like bricks for the backing—horizontally oriented with offset rows. It worked out beautifully because I didn't have enough of the cream colored flannel that was leftover from the backing of this quilt, but inserting the "bricks" gave me the perfect amount of backing for this project.

The Quilting Details

A video of the stitch path appears at the top of this post. 

Here are the sizing specifications for how I set up this design using my Intelliquilter (48" x 60" quilt size):

Row height: 4.25"
Gap: -2.883" 
Pattern height: 7.083" (measurement from top to bottom of the repeat)
Offset: 50%
Backtracking: some

The backtracking occurs in the vertical line that connects the circles with the rest of the row.

Here's a look at the included PDF. As you read the notes section in the PDF, you'll see why I rated it intermediate. The sewing itself isn't tricky, but the set-up and interplay between the rows is a bit unusual and needs attention as you get started.

The notes read: Set-up for this design is atypical and that's why it has an intermediate rating. Offset/stagger rows at 50%. When adjusting the gap, aim for the long horizontal line to bisect the largest circle as shown. The rows are intended to overlap. You may start stitching the 2nd row at the top of the quilt where you would normally stitch your first pass. Trim/clip the 1st row to only stitch the circles that will fill in the triangular gap created by a single row. Quilt the rest of the rows as usual.

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If you use Chandy on a quilt, we'd love for you to use the hashtag #chandypanto and tag @longarmleague on Instagram so we can see how you use it! You can also visit our full digital design shop to take a look at all our previous designs.

Interested in getting new digital pantograph designs like this one on the day they're released (and at a deep discount)? Sign up for our Digital Panto Club and get them delivered straight to your inbox on the first Wednesday of each new month.