Anyone have one of these? I bought one but never thought of how far I should be spacing the taks. So I just started firing away. I'm guess I used about 1200 taks and then had to fill in a few spaces with pins. I know even when I used just pins I could use about 400 in a baby panel quilt. I think I was doing about every 3 inches. Anything less and I'm scared there will be puckering in the back. Any thoughts? Thanx Joanna
The 'rule' I have always heard was to space the pins/tacks as far apart as the width of your hand at the palm. (I have well over 1500 safety pins for basting and I never have counted how many I used on any quilt.) It's worked well for me, but then I use Warm & Natural (or White) and both cling very nicely to the quilt top and backing. I'd think with a real thick batting you'd need the basting closer as the batting could shift as you compress the layers while quilting. HTH
Leslie & The Furbabies- almost all unpacked in MO.
I don't usually bother with spaced pinning or tacking all over a quilt sandwich - the block/quilt design decides where the pins/tacks will be placed. If I am using my tacking gun, I bring the needle out again to the top of the quilt before shooting the tack which makes it more stable plus it is easier/tidier to remove the tacks when both ends are visible on top. jennellh
Tiny note, Jenn: you can't do that with the microtach, the tacks are extremely small/short. I use mine a lot (I also have the grille to fire into when I am doing something large - not often!). I usually put mine about four inches I suppose? but I place them somewhere unobtrusive, like a seam, so my spacing is only a guide not a rule. The smaller needle is kinder to the fabric than the original tack guns, but closely woven fabrics like batiks do show a tiny hole after tack removal, until they are moistened. . In message , jennellh writes snip
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