ManiacQuilter2

I prefer pin basting and have quilted long enough to be able to position the pins where they won't interfere with my quilting. Depending on your batting is how close I would baste. I usually clipped the thread before the needle arrived to prevent any entanglement with the foot on my Bernina.

Manalto

I knew that people used safety pins to baste, but it's fascinating to learn that some people actually prefer that method. To me, they qualify as masochists.

My question, however, was about thread basting, most recently I was curious how those who use water-soluble thread stabilize the layers of a full-size quilt to machine baste it.

I haven't had a problem with the foot of the sewing machine getting tangled in conventional thread basting because I basted it from the back, taking stitches small enough so they didn't get caught in the foot on the pieced side.

I have to buy a Bernina? This is getting expensive.

tessagin

I baste using the Sharon Schamber method. I have an 8 ft. bench I can work on with plenty of space. Pretty quick after you get started.

PaperPrincess

Not sure where you are going with this comment. You hand baste with WS thread, just like normal thread, machine quilt, then throw the quilt in the wash instead of picking out the basting. Or you can pull the basting out by hand and just spritz the areas where the basting got caught in the quilting & it's difficult to remove.

joe'smom

These two videos show Sharon Schamber's method. She emphasizes that the tatting thread, being rough and unpolished, really grips the fabric, and that the herringbone stitch, because of the change of direction, will not shift. It holds wonderfully for machine quilting. You remove the basting in the area you're quilting, before quilting there. She recommends a width of three fingers between stitches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ

Manalto

I'm just a little slow to catch on. I was thinking about how much easier it would be to baste by machine, so why not do it that way? Well... because if you could put it through the machine with the layers all stable to baste it, why not just do your quilting? You have to cut me a little slack; I'm new at this, plus it was really early in the morning before my cup of vitality. But thanks for clarifying.

Manalto

Thanks for this. I've seen the wrap-it-around-a-board method before; I didn't realize that Sharon Shamber invented it. I'm going to try it; I like its compactness. One thing I did right, or at least according to her method, was the herringbone stitch, which I mistakenly called a zigzag stitch. 2 1/2" spacing seems tight, but the stability is probably needed for some projects. (I spaced my stitches 3 of Shrek's fingers apart.) She doesn't explain why you shouldn't quilt over the stitches. It seems so much easier to remove it at the end, rather than de-stabilize an area you're going to quilt. Do you know why?

I looked up DMC tatting thread and it comes in several weights. Do you know which weight would be good for this purpose?

Linda71

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

This is a video by Sharon Schamber. She shows how to hand baste any size quilt. I tried it and it is easy and fast and no pins to remove.

Manalto

Thanks. It's a great technique.
Why does Sharon Schamber say you shouldn't quilt over the basting stitches?
Why does Sharon Schamber say you should make the backing and batting 3" larger than the top around all edges?
DMC tatting thread comes in several weights; which is correct for hand basting?

joe'smom

The basting stitches are hard to remove if they've been stitched over. It is very easy to remove them while quilting (I am a slow quilter and am constantly stopping to consider my next step anyway, so I don't consider it an inconvenience).

My little skein of DMC tatting thread has an 80 on the front.

It is easier to quilt the edge of your quilt if you have extra batting and backing around the outside.