I'm hoping some of you talented and experienced quilters can give me some pointers on a good way to center placement of a pieced back to the front. I like to use spray basting, if that makes a difference (doubt it does, but then what do I know?). Any help you can give will be appreciated.
Thanks, Sunny
Hi Sunny,
When I did this once, I think I actually put something on the centre of the quilt back so that I could feel it through from the top. I might have used pins, but temporarily sewing on a button or bead might work better. If you also have something marking the centre of the front, then you can lay the batting and quilt top on the top of the back and feel for the centre to line it all up. I hope that makes sense. :-) It would probably be good to mark the centre of each side too to help get it straight, rather than just the very centre.
There may be other suggestions which are even better (less fiddly) than this, which I'd love to hear about too, but this did work for me. HTH.
I did it once recently and got the back all crooked! (So much for newbie enthusiasm!) I got some good advice for the next time -----
Fold the back and the top into quarters. The folds will look like a plus sign. Mark the exact center of each piece. Where the folds end at the sides, mark those places. Match the side marks on the top and the back.
I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know what happens when I get the batting in there. Someone also suggested handbasting along those folds.
Kay Ahr in NV
Sunny wrote:
When I piece a back, I usually do it off center to avoid having to be so precise about that. Only one time did I do a back that really had to be centered and it was enough of a pain that I try not to have to do it. (Note, I also spray baste.)
If you really need to center the back, start by basting the back to the batting. Then it is easier to center the front to it. Especially if you trim the batting to the edges of the back and know how much bigger the back is than the front.
H> I'm hoping some of you talented and experienced quilters can give me
"Sunny" wrote in news:1153749161.463676.35550 @m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:
I held mine up to the light... well, DH & I did... Then I moved it around until it was about right. then i pinned, pinned, pinned. But mine was small! :o) I think if you spray baste it then you can't move it around.
Howdy!
If the back has to be exactly centered length & width I fold the back to find the exact center, put a BIG safety pin there, pinning from the "right side" of the fabric so the pin touches the floor. More BIG pins along the centers of each side. Then I roll out the batting, smooth, smooth, adjust, gently tug it into place then smooth some more. Then I roll the top onto the sandwich base, feeling for those BIG safety pins to center the top over it. Place several more pins in a circle around that BIG pin in the middle, then pin baste toward the outside.
Usually, tho', the backing doesn't need to be quite so fiddly. As I usually piece the back in 3 sections so there's no center seam (makes a weak point when the quilt gets folded along the center most often), I mark that middle strip, both ends, w/ a BIG pin as a guide to lay the top down on the sandwich base. Check often to make sure it's all still centered; I like to baste from one end of the quilt to the other. If I use several pieces of fabric to piece the backing I don't worry about centering, just covering the space. It helps that I use a too-large backing and batting so there's extra play room. When done w/ the pin basting I roll the back over the batting and pin over the top border so there are no unprotected quilt top edges. Wish you were here so I could show you. It's much easier to show than tell. ;-D
Ragm> I did it once recently and got the back all crooked! (So much for
That's how I center circles onto square backgrounds. It works very well for that purpose, I can't see why it wouldn't work for centering a top on a back.
Mark center points on each side of each piece of the sandwich. Match all center marks of the batting to the center marks of the backing. Fold back part of backing, spray, smooth it into place. Move to other side repeat. Match center markings of the top to the center marks on the batting. Repeat the folding, spraying, smoothing out process.
Clear as mud, right?
Debra in VA See my quilts at
Fold your batting and mark it on the sides the same way. Debra in VA See my quilts at
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.