Basting a quilt

Excellent videos! However, I NEVER starch backing, or any part of a quilt, for that matter. I do my stitching by hand, and find that sizing and starch make it very uncomfortable -- and pre-wash all fabrics just to get that stuff GONE!

I always baste, and do so rather closely, but stay off the floor, which is a royal pain in the you-know-what. So, for any quilt larger than a lap quilt I pick up the phone and call my local church to find out when it would be convenient for me to come in and use the huge tables they have in one of the activity rooms. They're very nice about it, and will even have the custodian shove them together for me, so I have a large, smooth, raised surface to use. Another benefit of doing my sandwich-assembly and basting at the church is that I don't have a cat or a dog "helping" me.

I watched someone baste a quilt recently . . . just for a while. Decided going home and scrubbing toilets was a better pastime. First she tightly taped down the backing. Then she laid the batting over it and sorta smoothed it out. Next she put the top over all. Beginning in the center and patting out the puffs began pinning. In a sort of circle with pins about 3" apart. All this for a quilt she was going to birth. Hundreds of pins that would have to be removed before she could turn it. A backing that was pulled so tightly that it was just bound to spring when the pins were removed. I tried to intervene. She said, "this is the way I was taught to do it" as if any suggestions I had to offer would be insipid. As gracefully as I could, I backed up and tip-toped away. In the words of Kenny Rogers: know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to RUN. Polly

Den 03-12-2011 23:55, Rose in CA skrev:

I forgot about this! Thanks!

But how does it work if the quilt is wider than your table is long? Won't the ends just flop around and pull the backing/top of the board?

Hanne in DK

I watched the videos and promptly saved them in my favorites playlist. It looks great and I will definitely try it the next time I have a quilt big enough; lately all I'm doing is samplers and they get quilted square by square. I imagine that this can be used if the quilt is larger than your table; all you'd have to do is roll everything onto the boards on the flooor and then you can sit at your table and move it around as needed... I like what I saw and will certainly try it. It makes sense to me. Thank you for posting this!

Claudia

Oh my! Poor stubborn woman! I make mostly quillows that are all birthed. My table is smaller all around than the quillows (was she doing it on the floor?!) I do mine on a table that's smaller in all directions than most of my quillows, using clamps for the batting and backing, and just laying the top, wrong side up, on top. Pin down the center to anchor layers. Unclamp. Shift, pulling one edge onto the table top. Clamp here or there. Pin edges (using safety pins, not straight pins, the way Eleanor Burns told me, ouch!), tugging the backing from the center pins to avoid tucks. Unclamp, move a new section of edge into place. Repeat until it's all pinned. Pretty quick when you get a lot of practice. Just don't forget to slide the pillow top part in there before you sew it all together.

The sad part for me (and especially for her!!!) is that after you pin and sew it together, you have to turn it (not hard) and then pin again, all over, so you can quilt it! But she does that "pin the whole thing" twice. TWICE!

Ay ay ay!

Iris (As a point of interest, I've recently pinned a King Size quilt, not birthed, on the same table (about 34" by 58" inches, I think), just by doing the pin and move thing. No tucks either! I haven't been on the floor in years - the knees say "No way!")

Never did anything that big, but my dining table is 30" by 45" and I clip too, and it works fine! Never had a pucker since about quilt no 3 (when I used to stretch the back too much, I think, now I don't sweat it all so much, and that works better).

Hanne in DK

Same here I would never think of basting on the floor - it would take me forever to get back up LOL.

For wall size and larger quilts, I get out my 36x60 Cardboard Pattern Sewing Cutting Board and, using extra-large metal binder clips from Staples, secure the board to my dining room table, clamping all around the edges. With one leaf inserted, the table is the perfect size for the board and the board protects the table from the pins. There's lots of room to maneuver without bending over and I can reach the middle easily. I also use this set up for cutting fabric as it gives me lots of room for laying out fabric and sewing patterns.

So far I've basted up to a double-size quilt this way. I recently finished my first queen size top and that's how I'll be basting it, too.

-Irene

Anything big I now just rent a long-arm for $20 an hour. It's worth it to me not to have to baste or anything for something twin or bigger. I did two twin-plus quilts in about three hours. Anything about a yard square, I do on my fold-down cutting table and pin or thread baste. I hate removing pins though when I get in the "groove" of machine quilting at home. Anything in between, I'm waiting to try this method to see how it works.

I've saved them in my video downloads. At the moment I am finishing hand-quilting a hawaiian pattern that is about a yard square. The inside is done, now I have the outside parts to finish. I've had lots of time to work on it, but that is for an off-topic post.

Steven, who has survived the winds of last night with only a gate blown down Alaska

Hanne, As long as the *boards* are longer than the quilt is wide, it doesn't matter. The one I just finished basting was about 6 inches too long for my table but because the fabric was all wound up on the boards, I just shifted it this way and that to baste the last bits. Rose in CA

I used 2 boards of Douglas Fir, 3" x 2" x 6'. They are heavy enough to really hold the fabrics in place and the thickness helps keep the longer lengt from warping. The ones I found also have slightly rounded edges and are very smooth so don't need finishing.

Basting with needle and thread, using the method in her video, actually goes faster than pinning. And, BTW, I feel the same way about starch. Don't like it, don't use it, never will. The whole quilt and board package moved nice and smoothly without needing starch. I did press as many wrinkles out of the back as I could, of course.

But what if it is more like 40" wider than your table?

Hanne in DK

- in a "but" mood, apparently...

um. Buy a new table?

Rose in CA

- in a "buy" mood, aspparently ;-)

:-)

Hanne in DK

Howdy!

I find the thread-basting more tedious & harder on my nerves than pin-basting. Have done a few on the table, w/ the rotary cutter matt on the table top to catch the pin points. Usually, tho', I clear the floor & put a good story book on the cd player, spend an hour or so scootching around the rather large quilts on the floor. The floor needs the clearing & I need the stretching.

Whatever works: go for it. Finished is my favorite kind of quilt.

Cheers!

Ragmop/Sandy