Basting - Not your turkey either!

Basting has been on our minds in one way or another for the last week or so. But, today I am not talking about basting your turkeys! Nope sure not, I am talking about basting your quilt projects.

Basting NOT binding oh binding... mmmm not today we won't talk of this subject. It's all about the basting!

Sew you have that gorgeous top done, and you are ready to go to the next steps.

Steps? as in multiple steps...

YES! Before you baste there is a step that must be done.

Squaring the top. Easy to do. Make sure you are square from corner to corner and top to bottom as well as side to side. This will make your binding easier as well as the quilting. I won't go too deep into this subject as it is a deep one. You can look on you tube for proper squaring techniques for your type of top. There are many!

Now, on to basting! There are a few ways to do this.

First and most well known is pinning the top to the rest of the sandwich (batting and backing) or top and backing for a summer quilt.

Your top is squared, your layers are out and the top is rolled up ready to go onto the sandwich. I roll mine on it is easier for me as I use a counter and move it along as I go. But I do not pin mine (more later on this). So you have it ready to go and you have new sharp pins ready. nope not crooked! That is a basting pin, with the funny shape to it. It is made this way so it easier to put in and take out. The crook helps you to get hold of it in the sandwich easier. Regular safety pins can be used but are a bit harder to get in and out! Just a note there. Basting pins are very sharp tipped as well, going through multiple layers of fabrics at once.

How do you place them. Simple in a grid like the photo below shows Notice the placement in center of each square. You can also put them in the corners of the blocks to keep them down and less wrinkled. About every 3 inches or so depending on the amount of quilting you plan to do, how you plan to do it and what your batting allows for. Read package of batting for recommendation placement of pins. It takes a bit of time, a lot of room, and patience too.

Some will use straight pins with the stoppers on the ends, to keep from poking yourself with them. I have done it too many times to count, and blood and quilt tops just don't mix well.

Now there is also a little basting gun. You will need to buy more and more of the plastic pieces for each top, but I guess it works well, never used one except to put price tags on when I worked retail eons ago.

My way and the best way for me if I am not quilting on my frame, is to spray baste. YES! Love this stuff. You can spray it on, place and move and place again if you need to. It comes in a can (no photo) you can purchase at any crafting or sewing store. We will not sell this product on www.sewnsewhome.com due to shipping issues with compressed air in cans etc., I can usually get three or four quilts out of a can. It washes out easily, but will make your surface sticky if you over spray, so lay out some waste fabric or paper to catch it if you do over spray.

You can spray your layers evenly and not use a ton to keep it in place, if you are doing FMQ you will need a little more to keep in place with all the shifting that happens in this process.

Now this is when the roll techniques comes in handy if you have plenty or little space to baste in. You lay your backing, spray lightly and roll on the batting and spray as you go down the backing. Spray on the backing lightly! Always test a spot on your fabric first. Once the batting is in place, next roll your top and repeat the process, lightly spray, ensuring on each layer you even it out, get out wrinkles, and lumps. If you need to re position do so, no need to respray, just pull apart and place where it needs to be.

Once you have all your layers together hang it up on the design wall to look and make sure you have an even flat layer on top and bottom, if not like I said earlier pull apart and re lay correct. It is an easy way to baste and re position if needed. Have plenty of ventilation in the room you are working as well. Read the can instructions too. This is how I now do any quilt which is not going on my frame, and will be machine or hand quilted. Made my life easier, and NO POKES!

You are ready to begin quilting with confidence it will not slip. Start in the middle and work your way out or in quadrants, which ever works best for your quilt size and design. A tip to keep your needle from "gumming up" when using spray basting, put a little pam on your needle every once in a while or get Teflon needles.

Remember a quilt left unfinished is one waiting to love.

Til next time - create with love, joy, and passion.