Hours Edge-to-Edge Digital Quilting Design

This new design is called Hours. I was inspired by the hourglass shape, but I didn't want to name it that because there are some other Hourglass pantographs on the market already. So Hours it is!



Just like last month's new design release of Echoed Curves, I was intimidated to quilt this quilt because of all the solid fabrics that show the quilting oh-so-well! I mean, I do this to myself for better or worse. I love it when the quilting shows, but it's added pressure to make sure it's a good pantograph design that fits the quilt! 



When I look at the array of several rows laid out (with every other row offset at 50%), it appears to be "balanced" in the direction of the curves. But in reality, five of the lines curve to the left and only one line curves to the right. I spent a lot of time attempting to simplify the design and was surprised by this fact! I think that the offset helps give the design movement and flow.

The negative space within the pantograph design is also interesting and helps to boost the overall texture. 

The Quilt

This pattern is called Classic Stars by Emily Dennis of Quilty Love. I'm acting as if it's my mission to make every star quilt ever invented. The pattern provides an option for snowballed corners, which greatly impacts the overall quilt design, but I decided to go the more understated route and chose not to add the snowballed corners. The added benefit was that it was less work! :) 

I was apprehensive about the colors I'd chosen—inspired by a color palette I saw on Pinterest—only because it had no white or "background" equivalent. But I was really happy that within my fabric pull, there was enough contrast among the two-color blocks that each star was distinct. As a whole,  it's pleasantly punchy without being obnoxious! Hooray! 



I "translated" the image of the palette (below) into Bella solids fabrics via the Monograms For Makers Esty shop by having one browser tab open to the palette and another tab open to Meg's shop and toggling back and forth to find each match. There's got to be a better way to do this, only, I don't know what it is! It took a while to find all the matches. The photo is from Pinterest, but I can't find links back to any actual (non-spam) website, so I don't know where it was originally published.

The colors may not be exactly the same, but the effect is very "color block" and summer fun, don't you think?

I am thrilled with how it turned out! 

I found a really fun map fabric that I used for the backing in the bargain basement (where discounted fabrics are located) at Olive Juice quilt shop in Onalaska, Wisconsin. It's from the Destinations line by Riley Blake. I'd never seen it before, and I regret not buying more when I was there! 

The Quilting Particulars

Hours is a simple design with an easy stitch path. You'll only need to remember to offset every other row at 50% and allow a positive gap between rows. I aimed for the space between rows to be similarly sized to the space between the echoed lines of the motif. 

You can always scale a digital design up or down based on the quilt you are working on and the look you are going for. At the scale shown, the echoed lines are approx 1/2" apart and the unquilted areas are about 2" wide at the max width. Be mindful of that unquilted space if you decide to increase the scale of the design; you may not want to scale up so that you'll have unquilted areas of 4", for example.

Here are the sizing specifications for how I set up this sample quilt size using my Intelliquilter (60" x 67" quilt size):

Row height: 3.5"
Gap: +0.347" 
Pattern height: 3.153" (measurement from top to bottom of the repeat)
Offset: 50%
Backtracking: none

Here's a look at the included PDF:

If you use Hours on a quilt, we'd love it if you used the hashtag #hourspanto and tag @longarmleague on Instagram so we can see how you use it! 

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.