Bastinga quilt with Elmer’s School Glue
Two most important things to remember:
- glue MUST be Elmer’s School Glue (because it is washable)
- glue must be 100% dry beforeyou start quilting
Lay your backing on the table and straighten.
Lay your batting on the backing and straighten.
Lay your quilt top on the batting.
If the quilt is too large to fit on the table, center it as much as possible. Find which way you have the least amount of hanging over the table. I usually put the width of my quilt to be the lengthof my table (60”).
Using safety pins, pin your quilt through the middle of the quilt widthwise, separating the quilt into two halves. Roll the top on one half as far as it will go – to the safety pins. At this point you may want to move the roll of the quilt all the way to the edge of the table leaving a large area of batting exposed to give yourself more working area. Use chairs or lowered ironing board to support the weight of the hanging part ofthe quilt.
Apply Elmer’s School Glue I thin lines, or dots, or drizzles on the bating in the width of 12”-18”. I make a grid with lines about 2”-3” apart. Fold the top over the glue (12”-18”) and straighten with your hands from the middle outwards. Keep doing this until you reach the top edge of the quilt. At this point, the glue has not set yet. Straighten yourtop with your hands, removing any possible imperfections. Dry by pressing with dry iron. Some people do not do this, but rather leave it to dry overnight, but I am the impatient kind and I use my iron.
Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the quilt. Once it is COMPLETELY dry, turn the quilt sandwich so the backing is facing up. Straighten your backing again. And repeat the same procedure as with the quilt top. Quilt as desired.
Hint: If you will be applying your binding by hand, go easy on the glue at the quilt edges. Although it does not bother the machine needle one bit, it can be tough to get the hand sewing needle through it. I just use a metal thimble, since I cannot seam to go easy on the glue.
Basting your quilt this way, will make sure that both your top and your backing are as straight as you can get them to be. I found that batting that has good consistency, such as W&N, works great. I hope this helps. Happy Quilting!
Last edited by Tashana; 03-31-2013 at 01:03 PM.