For those that still use a hoop or small frame to quilt. Where do you baste your larger quilts. I use to get on the floor, but since I broke my leg last year I can't do that anymore and my table is not big enough. Curious as to where you stretch your large quilts to baste. If I had access to a facility that had large tables I could put togethr, I would got that route.

I am still a floor baster and it is always the part of I dislike the most. Many longarmers will baste a quilt for you. The only other option I can think of is if your LQS has table space for that. If you have a handy DH perhaps he can set up some plywood sheets for you on sawhorses?

I use my bed. I have very bad knees can't get on the floor. And if I could ost of my quilts would not fit on the floor (very small apartment) . Some times I drag out my cutting table and open it up all the way when no one is home.

Have you considered a church fellowship hall? Most have large tables you can put together. I have used ours to work on larger projects.

Another suggestion would be the library. Some have separate rooms for study with large tables.

Deara

Can you stretch it tight enough on the bed? I have done that with smaller quilts but I have the large cardboard cutting board to put on top. Maybe I should just buy another one to cover the whole bed and that would give me the hard surface to tape or clamp too. I have thought about that.

I use to have a LQS, I could go to and use their tables to baste. Once we moved don't have that option. At our LQS all but one lady are really rude. In fact I drive 30 to 45 min. to avoid our LQS.

I will definitely check out the library, had not thought about that. We just had a new one built about 1/2 mile from us. Thanks for all the great ideas.

here I could go to our community center and do it. If there is anything like that near you, you could try that.
Or maybe a church hall, they are good about letting that be used also.
also plywood placed on top of a bed will work.

I will be picking up a Grace EZ three pole no basting frame today! It's the best way to baste a quilt. I don't have to stretch the backing or worry about it being straight and I can sit while doing it. It's out of the way if it takes me a few days to get it basted. I had this frame before and I loaned it to a co-worker's wife. They divorced, moved away, and the frame disappeared. :? Water under the bridge. I found one for sale for $50! One of the situations where Mother in law died and family members don't quilt, selling house. Check out Sharon Schamber's online video of her sitting method of how to baste a quilt. I've been doing that and it's much better then the floor or bed basting.

Fire hall is where I take mine to stretch them on my home made stretcher bars made from 1"X2" with upholstery binding attached.

I have a large wood board I puton the bed and a very heavy mattress helps with the tension.

I used to use a large folding picnic table. clip the quilt onto the edges and baste the center, then move it and baste the sides. I used large binding clips till my hands wouldn't work them anymore. then i got the curved ones from Quilt In A Day and used a different table.
now i spray baste or use fusible batting.

I love this board, I really appreciate all the great ideas.

Like nativetexan I baste in sections. I have a cutting table and it is only about 36 in wide so I clip the quilt around the middle part first, pin then move it to the edges, clip and pin each side. It has always worked for me.
The plastic clips are the right size for the table and I also use the big black clips that you can get at the dollar store.
I use the bent pins also. Twin size is the biggest I have done, mostly only lap size. I send out my larger quilts for quilting by a longarmer.

I am lucky that DH is a pastor at our church, which happens to be really really close and he has keys. We go to the church and push tables together and SPRAY baste!

I used to do it on the floor. You can do it in sections on a dining room table. I know people that use an old ping pong table, those are pretty good sized.
Maybe you would want to invest in a pair of adjustable tables from Costco or something that you could store in the garage(folded up) and move to the driveway when needed.

The plywood on the bed sounds like a good idea.

Ok I am different. I use the wall in the hallway! Using poster board tacks to hold it at the top. It is the only place big enough.

I either take my stuff to the local Eagles hall (where my mom is a member) and move a couple tables together to baste on or I go to the library. It is about the only time that I get to leave the house ALONE!!

You could also try the VFW.

You have a wall with enough room to put something on it? lucky you. i can't make a design wall anywhere! sigh.

I live in a trailer, Hall is all I have! I just take the pictures down before I start pinning things up.

I have done the plywood on sawhorses, cuz no way, can I get on the floor, but, am starting to quilt in sections, bc this is still hard on the body.
I have a bum knee too...floors are out, after an injury.
sorry, you found that out!

OMG, way to go. I bet that is easier on your back than bending over.

You guys have given me such great ideas. I Also use those big black clips. I think I can use my cardboard cutting board and lay it on the bed and center it and clip it to it. I will move it after I get the center basted and baste the borders after it is stable.

I know what you mean. When my knee went bad I pieced a bunch of quilts but couldn't put them together. Isn't it frustrating. My knee is better after surgery, but now I have a bunch of quilt tops to put together.

My diningroom table is just wood - not a "glossy" piece of furniture, so I can use that. I tape the edges that are currently on top of the table. The weight of the fabric pulls the rest of the quilt pretty smooth and taut.

[IMG]http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k.../woolbatt1.jpg[/IMG]

Cathie, thanks for the visual. Do you just keep moving it as you baste an area.

I need to try that. It would be so much easier on my knees.

You know, I've thought about doing it that way..on the wall, but thought someone would think I was nuts!
Glad I'm not the ONLY one who thought about doing it this way. Seems like it was be easier, if you ask me!

Yes, I move it.

I just realized that I didn't explain very well. I start in the middle and run the radiant lines out as far as the edge of the table, then I leave the thread long enough that when I shift the quilt, I just pick up that thread and baste out to the edge. Because the needle is larger, with a bigger eye, it's not hard to thread.

I took a bunch of cardboard boxes apart and taped them together to make a cover for my kitchen table. I then lay the backingand clamp so its taut, lay on the batting and smooth it out, then lay on the top.

I either spray baste while I am laying it out (smoothing small sections at a time) or I pin baste it with the curved pins after I get the top placed. I also use a crochet hook to close the pins.


Cathe...that quilt you are basting looks fabulous!

Roy cut me a sheet of 1/4 inch plywood to lay on my table to layer and baste my quilts on. I can't lift it though, so I'm going to have to use your method soon, Cathe. Once Neil goes on shifts with the Sheriff's Dept. it will be all on me. I have an oval table but think I'll be able to tape or clamp it to the top to baste it.

I just can't get on the floor anymore, I can't bend over the table, whew but it's hard to get old! I liked Sharon Scheiber's way of using the 1 X 2's, I may try that on my next one. I HATE using the pins, but there are limits to a person with arthritis, aren't there?

Hugs,
Sharon

mimisharon You could try the cardboard folding cutting boards, they are 40"x 70", I got mine at JoAnns for less than $20. That is what I am going to try to use on my table. I have gotten such wonderful ideas. Thanks again to all of you.

I am very lucky to have a little group at the church. They have 4 nice long tables.

My aunt would pin her backing, batting and quilt top on a clothesline and baste it there. She would start at the middle and then use the pole to lower or raise the line. She used a 2 x 4 to roll the quilt from the bottom, held it in place with diaper pins on each end, then unrolled it as needed. She was fast doing it this way, I've never tried it, mostly because I've never had a clothesline. :?

I foud a great way to bast you quilt on your table. So much easire than I was taught. go to youtube and search for hand basting.

DH made me basting frames. They are 4 1X2 boards with fabric strips attached. The boards sit on 4 posts which are tall enough that I do not have to bend over while basting. Saves the ole back. The boards are attached to the posts by C clamps. I pin the quilt to the fabric strips and baste as far as I can reach. Then roll the basted area around the boards and baste again. I continue until I have reached the other end. If you have a "basting party" with friends, you can work from both ends at the same time and meet in the middle of the quilt. Much faster.

I have used the wall by attaching the quilt to the wall at the top and basted away. Gravity is your friend.












dH made me

I too am space challenged when it comes to basting large quilts. After watching a video online, I purchased some very straight 1X3 pine boards and used Sharon Schambers method of rolling the fabric on the boards on my dining room table. I have done one quilt with her herringbone stitch basting and one using pins for basting and the boards worked great both ways. Sure is easier on the back and the old knees!
http://sharonschambernetwork.com/fre...ing/index.html

Maybe this would be a solution for you also.

I just watched the videos on hand basting using the boards......looks very interesting.......can't wait to try it! I have pin basted the few quilts that I have done so far as I didn't like the idea of the spray basting!! This looks like a great alternative.

Barb

First, I mark the centers of the sides of backing, batting and top. I also mark the CENTERS of backing and batting.

I spray baste. In good weather, DH puts saw horses outside & tops them with plywood or masonite. (In other weather, we do it in the living room) I put a sheet on top of that, then the quilt bottom. I use those big office clips to hold them taut - but not TOO taut- and I line up my centering marks. Then I spray the backing (never the batting - it can melt) a little at a time and press the batting on it. When that's done, I spread the top over the batting, matching the centering marks again, smoothing it with a yardstick, and I do a final check on the centering marks. Then I spray a little at a time, this time on the BACK of the TOP.

It takes about 15 minutes total for a twin size quilt, a little longer for a double. A large quilt will be much larger than the plywood or masonite, and I certainly couldn't reach the center if it WAS larger anyway! So I do the center first, then the sides, carefully folding up the sides, so they don't catch & tear on the edges of the wood.

Spray basting is the way to go for me. I go to my church and lay my quilt on the tables there and spray baste. My first quilt (other than tying a comforter) was 90 something x 106 or something like that . I spray basted it and then quilted it with a small hand held hoop. I figure that the most important thing is to get the quilt centered and then work out from there, smoothing as you go. At least this is the way that I did it. Do any of you do it that way too?

I have been reading through the replies but have not, as yet, seen this link which I came across as I was dreading the prospect of basting my next big quilt. I asked my son to procure two boards, but he decided to go one better and produced a collapsible frame with three boards, one for each layer. It works like a dream and I can store it behind the sofa!
http://sharonschambernetwork.com/index.html (go to the free area and you will find info for basting a quilt)

Hi, I'm Pam from Chippewa Falls. I have two wooded sawhorses with a old closed (sliding door) door 36" x 73", it works great. I bought cheap sawhorses, but from leaning on the table they started to slowly spread their legs out. So my DH mad me a pair from wood scrap just the height I wanted. I cut my fabric on it, and do all my pinning. :D

I've been known to set up my quilting frames leaning against the wall (as if I were going to pin the whole thing to it) and hang the quilt from it. I pin enough to keep it stable and I then baste it with a basting gun. Works pretty well in a small space. I also go to my local church and use their tables as well. I'm definitely not a pro but this works!