Basting by for free motion
 

Hi all. I've bought a new machine, a Brother 420 PRW. Haven't tried it out yet, will a quaint myself with it tomorrow. I'm determined to learn free motion. But I'm a little concerned because I think, from watching some video demonstrations, that it requires spray basting and I've had zero success with anything but pin basting. :/
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks
Kelly

I use Elmer's Washable School glue. I won't baste any other way. I put tiny dots on the batting, smooth the backing on, let dry or iron it dry. Do the same for the top. If I have a big quilt I stream the glue in sqiggles on the batting then smooth. Don't think more glue will be better. Just a tiny thin amount. The needle glides right through.

It doesn't gum up the needle? Thanks!

Hi Kelly... I use the spray basting and wouldn't use anything else, except Elmers glue, as onebyone does. But I pin my quilts to a wall board and spray each layer and haven't figured out how to use the Elmers that way yet. I don't think I could get the glue on without it dripping and falling onto the floor. The spray works great for me. I just wish I didn't have to cover everything first. The over spray can be pretty sticky.

I only pin baste and I only FMQ! It's fine. In fact, here's a link to a thread I started about how I keep the pins in the fabric as I FMQ and work around them. It sort of incorporates them into the FMQ design but no one except me will ever notice that.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t274447.html

I baste with Elmer's glue pretty much all the time now, but before I discovered glue basting on this board, I pin basted dozens of quilts and quilted them on my domestic machine. It's a little slower with the pins since you remove them as you get near to them, but I never had any problems with pin-basted quilts. And the pinning process is a lot slower than either spray or Elmer's glue basting. Now the only time I pin baste is on the very rare occasion that I make a wall hanging that I don't want to wash after quilting. I've spray basted, too, but I prefer the Elmer's method. Spray basting is a little messier. My needle never gums up with either method.

It won't gum up the needle if you let it dry completely. I use an iron to dry
and don't put it too thick. I dilute the glue half/half. Saves on glue and makes
it easier to apply. I wipe any excess with my finger. Do a search on glue
basting. There's lots of discussions on this subject.

Also, does polyester batting baste as well as cotton with spray and/or glue?

I use the Sharon Schamber board method of basting with tatting thread and a herringbone stitch, and it holds beautifully for FMQ and is so easy to remove as you go along (removing the thread before you quilt a particular area).

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

I guess if you baste with the quilt hanging the glue wouldn't dry before the layers slipped.

Susan Willey, last summer I tried that method by hanging the quilt layers on a clothesline, one at a time. They didn't stick together at all ,but I took them right down without letting the layers dry. Maybe I didn't wait long enough ....? It was polyester batting, by the way.

That's what I was hoping someone would say! Thanks for the link

I only pin baste & I have zero problems with FMQ. Only area I've ever run into issues is near the edge of the quilt top so now I quickly thread baste the edge before I start FMQ. Just take the pins out of a small section (4-6" square) and then FMQ. Repeat until the whole thing is quilted.

I have trouble spray basting large quilts. Smaller ones are OK. On the other hand, I dislike pin-basting A LOT. Right now I am searching for a long-armer who offers basting services with wash-away thread. So far no luck. Heavy sigh! But I will keep searching.

There is no one-size-fits-all basting method. You can use the one that works best for you. The biggest problem I have with pins is that they always seem to be in the way. Now the trick is to keep them out of the patch of your SITD and then take them out. That way you can do the FMQ without anything in the way/

I use 505 basting spray with the Quilters Dream Poly batting and it works great. You can use pretty much any method of basting when FMQ on a domestic machine, experiment and find the one that works for you. :thumbup:

Spray basting is a personal choice-- definitely Not a must! When I first started quilting I took a class at a local shop, they taught us Pin basting ( and, we free motion quilted our quilts) . If that is the method you prefer there is no reason to not use it. Just be careful not to hit any pins.

I spray baste and get pretty good results this way - after making sure my backing and batting are bigger than my top, I find and pin mark the approximate center of each layer.
Starting with the batting and backing, I fold each into quarters and match up the centers I marked earlier.
Spray the batting, smooth the backing, open one fold on each so now I am able to spray the rest of that half.
Spray and smooth again, flip open the unbasted half, spray about 1/2 of the batting again.
So working in quarters more or less, it makes a large quilt manageable for me.

I pin the back to the board with straight pins to keep it still and from puckering, so I think if I could get the glue on each layer without it dripping I could pin all layers to the board until it dried. I also wonder if the glue would seep through the backing and glue it to the board. I might have to play with it and try it on a small sandwich to see how it works out.

I have never used spray basting usually just pin and quilt around the pins

I only pin baste and free motion quilt on my domestic machine. I mainly have learned from LeahDay.com. She has many free videos and you can find free info on her site that starts from step one. She is now using straight pins with "pinmoor" covers but I just use curved basting pins. Personally, I don't want the fumes of over-spray from the spray basting products.

I do alot of FMQ when I do the NICU quilts. I use W&N batting, spray basting, FMQ then wash and dry. Never had a problem.

I have used spray basting, pin basting and thread basting with FMQ. Once I tried basting with Elmer's washable school glue I was hooked. Cheap, no overspray issue, no toxic odors, easy, does not gum up needle and washes out. Please do look up this topic in the search box. It really is nifty and at least worth a try on a scrap.

Thanks. Do you use little dots of glue or spray half and half solution of glue and water?

Glue basting takes the place of pin basting not spray basting. Some
people like to dilute and paint or spray it on the entire surface. Some of us just dot or drizzle it on in a grid where the pins would go. That's what I do. I don't dilute and I don't cover the entire surface. I just turn the bottle upside down and drizzle a thin line in a sort of grid. Smooth backing (or top) and let dry. Flip over and do other side. I've never had a problem with this. Once dry it will not gum up your needle and it has always washed out for me.

I pin baste, never shifts while I FMQ. I use either high loft poly batting or for charity quilts I use W&N or W&W.

I have been using this method for quite some time now.

I don't get those tucks and folds in the back like I do with pins or spray

Does it stain the fabric.

in my experience over many quilts it has not stained the fabric. I think the washable school glue is a starch based product.

I do both, it just depends on size and how I'm going to quilt it.

I spray baste, but rather than hanging the quilt, I mark centers of all sides of all pieces (top, batting and backing) and align them over a banquet table. pin along the edge, then fold back the layers to spray baste.( I find it works best to spray the batting rather than the cotton top or backing. )Then smooth out each layer back into the quilt sandwich. Once the portion supported by the table is completely basted, I move it the quilt one direction or the other to repeat the spraying/smoothing process until the entire quilt is basted. I like to add a few basting pins along the outer border, which helps keep the backing from folding back and getting caught up in the stitches... I hate it when that happens.

Elmers gal here!! No need for wasted extra fabric for backing as there is very little shifting. Once glued, no movement. Use a light hand, if you have any blobs, smooth them out as you go. I usually iron dry and then hang over my balcony to really dry, 24 hrs. Make sure you use Elmers Washable School Glue. Great buys when school starts but you can buy it by the gallon from several sources. I like Amazon. A gallon lasts a LONG time!!

I always use warm and natural batting and it works very well with spray basting...especially for small projects. When I am doing a quilt, lap size or larger I use safety pins... a lot of them....then I machine baste starting at the center and going out to edge...another words split the quilt into quarters...this helps to hold and you can remove some of the pins but you just remove pins as you FMQ....for small things like placemats....a little starch between warm and natural and your fabric works fine.

Do you have to wash quilt after using elmers glue ?

I always wash my quilts when done anyway - regardless of how I baste. Some folks don't if it is a wall hanging. I think it is a good idea to wash out the glue

I glue baste with washable school glue and wash my quilt after.

There was a posting here a few weeks ago about someone who pin basted and FMQ and used the pins as points to meander around with her quilting so she didn't have to remove the pins until the end. You can definitely pin baste and FMQ.

Regarding learning FMQ, may I make a suggestion. Instead of practicing on scraps, I now use placemat size sandwiches. Then I end up with placemats and nothing is thrown away! If you make too many, then Meals on Wheels may enjoy them.

I have always used pins but am going to try the spray basting. Just try it and have fun with a practice piece first.

I just discovered Sharon's method and love it, but I use the spray basting instead of stitching..works great...keeps my old knees off the floor..lol

Congratulations on your PC420, I have one and I love it. I have FMQ'd a lot on it and really enjoyed it. I just upgraded to a used PQ1500s for the larger throat space so that has become my main FMQ machine, but I still use my PC420 everyday for the decorative stitches. On to your question:

I pin baste. If I'm only using one color thread in my quilt when I'm FMQing, then I FMQ stitch in the ditch just around the part I'm getting ready to FMQ, remove pins and FMQ--it goes really quickly this way and I don't have any problems with tucks, layers shifting or pins getting in the way of my FMQ.

If I'm planning on using lots of different colors of thread in my FMQ then I pin bast and using a thread that blends or invisible top thread I Stitch in the Ditch as much of the quilt as I can get through my machine using a regular open toe satin or decorative stitch foot with my feed dogs up. Remove quilt, remove all pins from areas that were STID'd and FMQ. This way takes a lot longer since I'm also breaking a lot of thread to accommodate color changes, but it allows me to FMQ some really large areas without running into pins.

For learning FMQ, try starting with two pieces of felt for your sandwiches, you can buy large packages of felt from craft stores and just grab a couple of pieces and go. Then move to quilt sandwiches that you might want to use for other things like place mats before moving to a full sized quilt.

Rob