antylu

Not a lot of you do the hand basting thing anymore but I am pretty new to quilting, my first quilt I pinned; this one I am thread basting; (will be hand quilting) My husband made a riser and sheet of plywood on my table so I don't have to bend so much; I did put sheet on the plywood then placed and tightened my back and sandwiched; my tip is this; I have a curved needle (that I used for sewing turkey shut) and it just works so much easier than a straight needle; since I have the sheet on the plywood, I just slip my cutting mat under the area that I am currently basting so as not to catch the sheet. Hope this may help someone who still uses thread basting.

Maggie_Sue

One of those tips, that makes you go...now why didn't i think of that!!! Thanks!

LynnVT

Excellent tip. Is the purple avatar quilt your first one? You really are off to a great start for a newbie! And nice that your husband is right there to help you get set up.

DebraK

I don't thread baste (by hand) anymore because of the longarm, but I always got my best results and found pleasure in doing so before.

Tartan

You can also put a marble under your backing fabric and move it around as you thread bast to give you enough slack for the needle. Nice of your husband to raise up your basing surface to save your back.

antylu

Yes, the purple quilt was my first (then I did do a small easy peasy teddy bear baby quilt in between the one I am now working on.) Thanks!

NJ Quilter

I keep forgetting to find my curved needle when thread basting! I hand quilt as well and like to thread baste larger (queen/king) quilts as it does help a bit with the weight. I baste on my cutting table which makes that part easy as well. Wish is was a tad shorter, though. Keep hinting to DH, but then, it's usually covered with stuff so how could he?

Gladys

What a great idea. With my luck it's roll off the table. LOL Great idea about the curved needle too. I'm always learning something here!

Jan in VA

Interesting. Although, I find that curved needle hard to hang onto; have used it many times, but still...
I prefer to thread baste most of my large quilts though I have used basting spray, fusible battings, and pins.

Jan in VA

GailG

I have tried and tried the marble technique but have not caught the hang of it. So I use the teaspoon as I learned with Alex Anderson a very long time ago. It helps with safety pins. I use my old corregated cardboard folding cutting board that I used for garments years ago to protect the table top. Sometimes I pin and then baste.