Simple Pines Digital Edge-to-Edge Pantograph

Confession time: I've had a "Christmas tree" panto sketch in my design software for well over a year now, but it just wasn't working. Cut to a few weeks ago: I became inspired by the new pattern, Tree Rows, designed by Emily Dennis of Quilty Love.

I love the SUPER simplified patchwork of the trees, and that made me take a fresh look at the panto design I'd been working on. I removed a bauble, deleted a few branches, and made the boughs curvy. Suddenly, it was a panto I wanted to use on this very quilt pattern.



As a panto designer, I'm very much drawn to graphically interesting quilting and the texture it produces. I adore the pillowy softness that comes from the transitions between trees; it feels a bit unexpected for a tree panto. In fact, I don't think the overall texture reads immediately as "tree", and maybe that's what I like most about it.



When tiled across a quilt, the shapes interlock in a soft, flowing way.

This design would, of course, be appropriate for Christmas or winter-themed quilts, either traditional or modern.

The Quilt

Quilt Pattern

As mentioned earlier, this quilt pattern is called Tree Rows and was designed by Emily Dennis. When inspiration struck, I just had to go for it! You see, timing-wise, to release this panto in time for our December schedule, I had to sew the quilt top quickly—in a matter of days. Thrill-quilting at its best! 

Fabrics

I was so excited about making this quilt as quickly as possible that there was no time to plan or shop for "special" fabrics. As written, the pattern suggests different half-yard cuts as the background of each row, with the trees uniform in color throughout the quilt. I tried to make that work with the fabric I had on hand, but I just didn't have large enough cuts to bring any cohesive palette together.

AND THEN, I remembered my friend Kristen brought a bunch of low-volume scrap fabrics to give away at the last retreat we attended. I pulled out that amazing stash of gifted fabrics and found that the scrap sizes worked perfectly for this project. I found this solution infinitely more special than any other palette I could have planned in advance and shopped for. Yay for quilty friends! 

I had a fat quarter bundle of Riley Blake's Sassy Confetti Cottons, which I decided to use for the trees, making each row a different color, in the spirit of the written pattern.

Backing 

This is such a darling print! I love the colorway, the cute records, and yes—even pine trees make an appearance. It's by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Ruby Star Society. I also used it on the back of this Christmas-themed quilt two years ago.

The Quilting Details

Difficulty Level

I didn't have to think too hard about assigning a difficulty level. This is "EASY" in every sense of the word! No offsetting, no backtracking, and super-duper easy alignment from row to row. You won't need to babysit it, and it's fast.

If you'd like to view the stitch path, a short video is available at the top of the blog post.

Scale

This quilt is fairly small, so I scaled the pantograph design down from the default size. As stitched, each individual tree is about 2" tall.

Here are the sizing specifications for how I set up this quilt using my Intelliquilter (50" x 60" quilt size):

Row height: 2.5"
Gap: -1.737" 
Pattern height: 4.237" (measurement from top to bottom of the repeat)
Offset: none
Backtracking: none

Here's a look at the included PDF:

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