quick question.
 

How close do you put your pins in your quilt sandwich? I have a queen size quilt that I have pieced for a friend. It is made out of vintage material and old hankies. The top came out nice but she wants it backed in white, and I am so afraid it will pucker and twist. Is there a rule you go by to decide how many pins to use and how close you put them?
Thank you so much.

I don't usually use pins as I have a HQ16 for quilting.

If I were to hand quilt - which I don't do anymore - I would hand baste for ease in taking it with me and not being stabbed by pins or having to keep track of them.

If I quilt with my DSM then I might put in a few strategic pins, though not many. I have even hand basted for this.

I use basting spray instead of pins. I find the sandwich stays together much better and don't get puckers on back.

Some use Elmer's School Glue to baste. Do a search on this topic. It must be the washable school glue.

When I did use pins I pinned thedickens out of the sandwich which was annoying when it came time to quilt!

Are you machine quilting on a domestic sewing machine? If so, I recommend *heavily* starching the backing fabric (or the backing, if already sewn together) before sandwiching. Starch stabilizes the backing so it is much less likely to pucker or fold over on itself while quilting. My method is to use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" this solution onto the yardage using a large wall painting brush until fabric is saturated, wait a couple of minutes to make sure the starch has penetrated the fibers, toss in dryer, and iron with steam. I also spray starch the top before sandwiching, to help stabilize the top.

Finally, I recommend spray basting instead of pinning. I actually ruined an expensive walking foot when it got caught on a safety pin I had missed taking out. Spray basting is better than pinning because all 3 layers of the sandwich are connected continuously; with pins the layers are connected only at the pins, and layers are more likely to shift.

If you do pin, then a rule-of-thumb is to have a pin every 4 inches in every direction -- about a fist width apart from each other.

I don't want to use chemicals or continuously spend more money. I pin 4 inches apart or slightly closer. If I can, I will SITD to stabilize more.

I was taught that they should be close enough that if you put your hand down anywhere on the quilt you will feel at least one pin. I use the curved safety pins and it works good for me.

I mostly pin baste but sometimes will thread baste. In either case, I put my pins (or thread) about a hand-width apart in all directions. If it's a large (king) quilt I will usually thread baste as that many pins make it really, really heavy to handle.

Pins? I refuse to use pins when basting my quilt sandwich...too much time, they fall out, they poke fingers and other body parts and I still end up with puckers. I use Elmer's washable school glue for basting.....best method I've tried and trust me I've tried them all!

Elmers glue is great for basting. I baste a pile of things and they stay perfectly in place until I get around to the quilting.

That is a sound system. I like to put them just about the same. I try to think of what my quilting will be and put the pins where they will not be in the way, but still close enough to hold the sandwich until that section is done.