Basting with glue
 

I have been reading threads about the pros & cons of this method. I would like to try it on a small quilt. I bought Elmer's Washable, no run School Glue. Is this the right one? I just want to be sure before I begin. I know it is supposed to be School Glue, but now I am confusing myself - does washable mean it will wash out or an article is safe to wash and will stay glued together. Someone please set me straight - thanks !!

Washable means it will wash out. Plain old white Elmer's like we used in grade school. It's just made of starch so it won't hurt a thing.

I've used the Elmer's Spray Adhesive and another brand I bought at Jo Ann's specifically for quilting. Both work well but from posts I've read the Elmer's may be a problem once washed. Spray basting is so much easier than the pinning!

I use glue sticks for basting down a small areas, use it for holding binding in place. I like this because I don't accidentally spill out a huge amount.

I use the white Elmer's School Glue. Just make sure it says "School" glue.

That's the right one. I just brought mine over to the computer and it says exactly what you wrote. This is what I use to glue-pin bindings (using my iron). Some people also use it to baste the quilt sandwich, drizzling it on in thin lines, but I haven't tried it that way.

The glue washes out completely. You use it to hold things together until you can sew it together with thread. Thread holds everything together when the glue washes out.

Ironing dries the glue quickly, which is why I iron when using it to glue down binding before sewing. When using it to baste a quilt sandwich together, most people just let it dry naturally overnight. On a small quilt, you would baste the backing and batting together, let dry naturally, then glue the batting and top together and allow to dry. Or, if you are ambitious, you can iron to make it dry faster.

It's the right glue.
I use it for bindings and also pieceing blocks.
No need for pins, just add a little glue and set with an iron.
Works great when sewing long strips together.

Thanks everyone for confirming what I thought was correct. I'm anxious to try it as I'm tired of pinning and don't have a good - dry - accessible spot for spraying. I love this board and all the kind, generous and helpful people on it.

I have recently switched to basting with Elmer's School Glue and am very happy with it. I drizzle a grid on the batting and smooth the backing out, let dry, and then do same with top. So far it hasn't gummed up any needles and seems to wash out completely. Good luck with it.

just one little hint...spread the glue in thin lines onto the batting and smooth the fabric on top....that way you can see that you will have no wrinkles or puckers!....just did my first quilt sandwich that way and am quilting now.....love how easy and how secure it keeps the sandwich....will never pin or spray baste again!

I don't know about the rest of you but when I was in grade school (called elementary back then!) we used LePage's glue. It was golden color and was dispensed out of a rubber top with a slit in it. Elmer's didn't come out until later.

I still pin baste my quilts. I do it on my glass topped dining table and I make larger quilts and I have to move them to different sections to get them all pinned. I don't think the glue basting would work very well with my set up.
I do think glue basting would work well for matching intersections when sewing long rows to each other. I could see right away that they are matchine up as they should. I will try it. Thanks for all the helpful hints.

I remember that stuff! It was rubber cement and cleaned up pretty easily because, after it was dry, you could rub it off into a small ball.

You're right. It was mucilage -- actually gum arabic, not rubber cement. I finally thought to Google it.
http://www.thecakelady.ca/lepagesglue/mucilage.html

Oh yes, I remember that! I would never use it as I always thought it was mucous. YUK, actually mucous might work too - double yuk

I remember that mucilage; it's what we used at home. At school, we had to use messy white paste, in a jar. It usually smelled a bit like wintergreen and always left the pasted item rather lumpy.

Would it be appropriate to use this method of basting on a Christmas tree skirt that I'm working on an don't really want to wash?

I, too, just finished the binding on a quilt using Elmer's School Glue for the first time. I followed the youtube post The Binding Angel and it was quite helpful. The only suggstion I have is to use a dry iron which I don't think was mentioned in the video... I learned this quickly when the glue didn't set. I ususally do most of my pressing with steam so I didn't give the iron setting any thought until the glue was still sticky when I took my project to my machine.

I use the archival glue sticks especially when putting together my miniature (as well as pp) projects. This glue doesn't cause the threads to breakdown.

I use the Elmers School Glue all the time, especially for my binding. I then iron it on, lightly. then I hand stitch the binding, and eventually wash the quilt. It all washes out in the end.

Does anyone have the address that showed using Elmers, I thought I saved it.

Yes. It was called "mucilage." My Dad loved to use that stuff.

After reading all the posts about this glue I decided to try another application. I recently made several of Joan Hawley's Runabout purses and I used the glue to hold the handles in place so that I could get them right on the outside edge butting against the seam and not have to pin through several layers of fabric and batting. Worked like a charm!

Now that you mention it, I remember the rubber top with the slit in it. Just shows how old we are. LOL

I used the Elmer's spray and then found out it is waterproof! So don't use it! I was really upset since the quilt was for my new gr-grandson. But I gave it to them anyway. I saw it the other day, and after it was washed it was ok, just a little stiff. :(

Jingle, I too always either pin or sew basted my quilts and it was my least favorite part of quilting. I finally spread a large quilt over a table and spray basted it, following it with Pinmoors...you can look them up. I found out about them on this board. I then proceeded to freemotion quilt on my sewing machine...nothing budged!!! I'll NEVER pin or sew baste again...and I think the spray basting is faster than the gluing.

Spray baste...it will knock your socks off! Easy and effective. BTW..I just pieced a real pain in the neck quilt with lots of seams meeting. I used the school glue instead of pins on the seams. My accuracy rate shot through the ceiling. Love the school glue for piecing and the spray basting for basting.

I am in the process of quilting a quilt after basting with Elmers glue. So far so good.

I'm giving a demo on using glue at out next meeting. I bought a bottle of Roxanne's GLUE-BASTE IT. The small bottle costs $4.50, and the larger bottle (4 times as much) costs $9.00. The larger bottle comes with two long metal applicators so you can get a nice thin line of glue, a cap for them, and a spout "cleaner outer". Of course if the spout needs much cleaning, whatever is in it can be washed out. I expect when that bottle is gone I will fill it with Elmer's School Glue.

I tried it on several projects to prepare for my demo. Last Saturday at 4:00 I pulled a comfort quilt top (40X60 for the hospital comfort cart) out of the closet, and laid it on the bed. I put the back down and smoothed the batt on. I folded the batt back half way and put drops of glue every six inches or so and smoothed it back. Then I did the other half. The top was done in the same manner, but I used the iron to start the drying process. The bed is soft, so I just held the iron over the spots for a few seconds. I left the quilt set while I prepared the binding. Then I sewed the binding on, and did some machine quilting. NO PINS! I was almost finished with the quilt before supper. I left the binding closing and one corner to do at the demo.

This is so much fun.

Oh im going to have to try this! thanks for all the comments

It's an Elmer's product that may still be available. It was in the school section of stores until about 10 years ago. When I couldn't find it in the store, I ordered it online. This is what I prefer to use for machine freezer applique, instead of glue sticks. It goes much faster for me. Apparently I have gotten better using it, as I don't get any lumps now! I thin it with water if it gets too thick.

Edit: It's still sold! Here's one link I found for it:
http://www.cascadeschoolsupplies.com...mNumber=120568
It's a starch product too, which is why it work for my freezer paper applique.

I baste with Elmers School glue and it's great! Washes right out. Actually, I've used other brands of school glue with equally good results (a 4 ounce bottle of white SCHOOL glue at WalMart is 34 cents--enough to do two lap or baby quilts, maybe more). The key is to be certain the bottle is labeled SCHOOL GLUE and is stated to be washable--that means it will wash out. You can let it dry naturally, or heat dry it with a dry iron if you want faster results. I've been very pleased with it and now glue baste my quilts in sections on my laundry room folding counter. Certainly speeds up the process of getting my quilts to the machine for quilting.

Edit: It's still sold! Here's one link I found for it:
http://www.cascadeschoolsupplies.com...mNumber=120568
It's a starch product too, which is why it work for my freezer paper applique.

Just recently I bought a jar of Elmer's Washable School Paste in a container exactly like the one in the link above. It has a different label. The back says it "washes out of clothes with soap and water, even after drying."

And most kids ate that white paste... lol me included.

Karenpatrick, you could use it for your Christmas tree skirt, but if you are not going to wash it, I wouldn't. This glue is basically starch & starch could attract bugs while you are storing it during the summer. I'd hate to have you take it out at Christmas to find holes in it.