Preliminary Information

The IntelliQuilter is a computer controlled quilting system that consists of two motors and a letter-size, touch-screen operated computer. The computer is installed on the front of the machine, the motors are snapped on the sewing arm and the cross carriage. There are no timing belts, steel ropes, thick cable trunks involved. The installation of the system takes about 45 minutes in the customer´s studio

The IQ offers an interactive menu system to guide the operator through various screens, using descriptive button labels, titles and instructions. Almost every screen has a "?" button for help. When you hit this button, a help text will appear on the screen, explaining all the functions of the given screen, even giving examples and hints how to use the functions. It is like having a user manual built in the system, which opens up automatically on the page that is relevant for the actual screen.

The IQ has all the functions and operating modes that help the operator compose and quilt high quality custom quilts. You can compose the whole quilt before making a stitch, then start quilting all or parts of it, or save the whole quilt for later use.

You can use blocks, pantographs, and border patterns to compose your quilt. The system allows you to input the actual seam lines of the blocks, borders and SID seams by moving the needle along the lines and hitting a button at the relevant points and corners.

For example, if you want to put a block pattern inside a square block, set on point, you would enter the four corners of the square by moving the needle through them, then select the block pattern from a catalog. After the selection the program automatically fits the pattern to fill the block. Let's say that you entered a 12"x12" square that was set on point and selected a pattern that in its original format was 7" by 7" and sitting on its side. About a half second after you hit the "pattern select" button, the screen will show the pattern, turned to the on-point position and enlarged to 12" by 12".

After fitting the pattern on the block you can still edit it if you did not like the automatic fitting, or if you want to make more copies of the fitted pattern. The editing support includes sizing, rotation, moving the pattern around the block and snapping it to other patterns or block points, flipping, and stretching. You can zoom in to look closely at the details, zoom out to view the whole quilt, or browse through the quilt by moving your finger on the touchpanel.

The edited pattern can be repeated horizontally and vertically, with variable horizontal and vertical distances. If you want to use alternating patterns, you can delete every even or odd pattern by the touch of a button. Then select another one, repeat it the same way as the first one and delete the overlapping locations, leaving, for instance, every even repeat for pattern#1, and every odd repeat for pattern#2.

You can create complex patterns by copying the original one, mirroring or rotating it, then combining the result with the original one and save it under a different name for future use. All these editing functions are built in the software, you don't need to exit the quilting program, start a graphic editor (e.g. AutoSketch) to create your new patterns.

In addition to bock pattern editing, the system offers fully automatic functions, such as pantograph fitting. First, you enter the shape of the pantograph area, which can be a rectangle representing the whole quilt, or an arbitrary polygon with unlimited number of points. Then select the pattern you want to use, and the program will repeat it horizontally and vertically to fill the area. You can change the appearance of the pantograph by changing the height of the rows and the gap between rows (for interlocking patterns). Every odd row can be offset anywhere between +80% and -80% of the width of the original pattern. You can also flip the even and odd rows horizontally and vertically, and shift the odd rows up and down. Best of all, the patterns will be clipped at the boundaries, even if you entered an irregular area.

You can use the built-in patterns, the new ones you created, or load new patterns via USB drive. For example, you can purchase the patterns directly from those designers who will carry the IQ format. When downloading the purchased patterns, you specify the USB drive, which is included with every system, as the destination of the download. Then simply select the Load Pattern mode on the IQ and plug in the USB drive. The IQ will recognize that the drive was plugged in and will load the patterns automatically.

In addition of the above, you can create your own patterns from scratch using the Recording function. When you select Recording, the motors are automatically disengaged, in about 5 seconds, and you can use the machine to sew a pattern, without any mechanical drag. You can also digitize paper patterns by putting them on the top of the quilt and tracing their lines with the needle. The recorded or digitized patterns can be saved and edited with the standard editing functions.

Switching between automatic and manual modes is as easy as pushing a button on the screen. When the Manual Mode is selected, the motors disengage automatically. There are horizontal and vertical channel lock functions provided by selectively engaging the arm or carriage motor with its brake activated.

The IntelliQuilter hardware and software is built using the most recent developments in technology. To withstand the vibration of the machine, we use solid state data storage instead of hard drive mechanism. The computer is loaded with crash-proof Linux operating system and the programs are written in highly efficient and fast C++ language. For those customers who have Ethernet-based Internet connection (e.g. cable modem) an on-line technical support is available, when our technician can log into the system and test or update it remotely. Without Ethernet connection we use the USB drive-based data gathering and updating system.

The IntelliQuilter drive motor system is also our design. Each motor has its own controller built on it, which makes it possible to connect all the components of the system by a 3/16" diameter cable, causing negligible drag. The proprietary motor control software is seamlessly intergrated with our proprietary computer program, resulting in a highly flexible, fast and accurate motor drive system.

The IQ system is offered in various configurations to suit the actual user requirements. If somebody wants to use the system for high quality pantographs only, she/he can order the PantoGrapher package. This package includes all the hardware components, but the software is limited to the pantograph function, using existing and downloaded patterns. There is no pattern editing or recording feature in the PantoGrapher. The Manual Mode is included in each package. The PantoGrapher package costs under $10,000, delivery, installation and training included. The installers may charge reasonable travel and lodging fees if the installation requires air travel and/or overnight stay.

The next level is the standard IntelliQuilter package, costing under $12,000. This package contains all the editing functions, full custom quilt design, pattern/quilt saving and recall, recording, contour quilting (SID).

The highest level is the Designer package, which in addition of the standard features contains full pattern creation functions. This version embeds the functionality of a graphic designer (like AutoSketch) with the added benefit of the touch screen, by which patterns can be drawn by moving a finger or stylus on the screen. The Designer package costs under $15,000.

The pattern design can be done away from the quilting machine. The computer can be snapped off the machine allowing you to create and edit your patterns and quilts in your living room, in the doctor's waiting room or on an airplane. You can also share your quilt designs with others in "show and tell" meetings of your quilt groups. When detached, the program runs in demo mode, with most of the functions still available, (with the exception of block sampling, contour quilting, recording, etc.)

You can upgrade the system at any time by paying the difference between the levels. The upgrade can be downloaded from our website to a USB disk and loaded into the computer similarly to the patterns.

We will continue to develop new modules for the system, which will be available at various prices reflecting the usefulness of the modules. These modules will be fully automatic and will make quilt composition easier. One example is a "Math Quilting" module for Baptist Fan pattern. This pattern is quite complex to be put together of predesigned patterns (you will need about 5 elementary shapes for each fan with a different number of arcs). With Math Quilting you just input the number of arcs and rows, and the size of the area, and the program will calculate the stitching lines based on the mathematical formula of the Baptist Fan. Similar method will be used for other widely used patterns, like piano key borders, cross-hatching, etc. We are also working on simulating hardware-based design tools, like circlemakers, ray guides, etc.

We hope that the IntelliQuilter will open new possibilities for those who want the high quality and productivity of a computerized system, but want to pay only for features they actually use.

Due to its unique design the IQ can be easily adapted to all the machine brands, including mid- and shortarm machines. The IQ can be set up for regulated or non-regulated machines. To this date the IQ is available for Gammill, APQS, Nolting, KenQuilt and HQ-16 machines; the A-1 version is under development.