basting my first quilt top Q's
 

Hey everyone!
I have a few questions as I prepare to baste my 1st quilt top. It's just a funky lap-top or craft quilt size project - pics later of the hexagon blocks - but I'm fearful at this point.

1. I am new to sewing not only quilting - this is about a 36"x40" top, and I have very little floor space to lay out my sandwich. I have a large enough table to do this - but if I can't get it all thread-basted in one day, and I have to remove (carefully) the project until another time, will I still be able to keep it all lined up?
2. Is it realistic to consider Elmer's glue basting for a newbie - or should I focus on traditional long-stitch basting stitches by hand? I feel better about the thread, but glue.....seems quicker....?
3. Would anyone recommend a particular thread weight/type and needle type for basting by hand please?

thanks so much - off to work with my 5th grade students!!!

Adam

See if this works - my funky top - don't mind the errors!

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Your top is completely sewn together, correct? It should only take 30 minutes to an hour to thread baste a quilt that small. You take huge running stitches in a grid, with the rows about a hands width apart.

Cute top & good job.

Are you hand quilting this? you thread baste for hand quilting. You safety pin or glue baste for machine quilting.

My opinion...any type/weight thread is fine for thread basting. Any fairly large hand sewing needle that is easy to handle is fine to use. And as Mdegenhart says, about a hand-width apart in both directions. If you are machine quilting, glue is fine. I'm a hand quilter and don't use it so can offer to guidance there. And I mostly use safety pins for basting.

I suggest trimming off the edges of your borders to make them all square. Make sure your batting and backing fabrics are a good 3-4 inches larger than your top on all sides.

I baste mine on a table top. I use the big black binder clips to hold everything in place for basting.

Looking good so far. Good luck.

If you are machine quilting, you definitely should try glue basting as it is very fast and easy. If you will be quilting by hand, you will want a different method like pinning or spray. Whichever way you choose shouldn't take long at all for that size quilt. Glue will take the longest if you let it air dry (using an iron to speed dry the glue shortens the time considerably). Good luck!

I also thread baste for machine quilting! I use a color thread that is not in the quilt, machine quilt right over the basting, then pull out the basting stitches starting from the middle. No problem for me.:)

Jan in VA

What a cute quilt!!!! I use pins (bent safety pins, in case the idea is not one you are familiar with)for basting, but whatever you use, it won't take too long to do this cutie! It won't take much longer than grading a couple sets of papers. :)

Dina

I love your funky quilt. Sure is a lot cuter than the first one I made!! I use to take my quilts into my former LQS and pin baste them in their classroom (when available). The purpose of this pin basting is to make sure that there will be no puckers on the back of the quilt. After pinning, check the back to make sure there is aren't any puckers and the back is smooth.

Elmer's washable glue is perfect for beginners. Everyone of my guild members baste with Elmer's. We use it for all our donation and fundraiser quilts. No one sighs at having to baste all those quilts now.

There are so many ways to baste quilts. Another is spray starch. So many videos on basting. No bigger than yours is, if it were me I would thread baste it. I've done that and the Elmer's glue. I thread baste if I have no intentions of washing it before giving it. I have no pets that can get up onto the quilts.

I use spray basting - Sullivan's - for both and have never had a problem.

A lot of excellent answers above to help you choose what you want to do, I only wanted to say I really like your quilt. It's so cool and it really doesn't sing out that "first quilt" to me. Good luck on the next steps.

Thank you!
It looks good - from a distance!!!! (a far away computer screen is perfect!)

Adam

Great tips - thanks a bunch!
Also, FWIW, I'll be using the yellow patterned sash strip material for making my bias binding when all is said and done. At least that's my plan at the moment!

Adam

I appreciate your kind comments, JB!
Nice to hear that this experimental project doesn't turn folks off - believe me, it was a random inspiration that looks nothing like the "class quilt" top I had been struggling to tackle over the fall months.

That one I gave up on - after stitching together about 7-8 different traditional blocks. Meant to be a sampler, but I really disliked the material and just went "ugh" and set that aside. Might turn those blocks into little pillows for my dog or something....!

Adam

I h ad to be able to remove a baby quilt from my bed ( that was where I had to baste it together) and I placed the quilt on top of a cardboard folding cutting board. Used binder clips all the way around the edge of the cutting board, holding the top, batting and backing together to the board.. Then I pinned . I had to remove the quilt before I was done, so I just folded the cutting board with the quilt and clips, worked great.

It 's looking good to me. Get that other one out and finish it too. You will be surprised how good they look when finished. You need the practice just like all of us do.

Actually I pin for everything. Hand or machine. Never had a problem.

If you have space to store, try using two identical ironing boards placed side by side to keep the quilt off the floor and level. I would use spray basting in a well-ventilated area.

I love the quilt. Since I haven't been able to get down on the floor for any reason and get back up, I do not put my quilt on the floor. You said that the quilt fits a table top, so that's what I would use, just trim up the extra pieces along the border and go for it. I use pin basting as I only machine quilt, but I use my table often and ifthe quilt is larger, I put my cutting mats on my DH's bed and he helps pin. His bed is easier to get around than mine, however, I find it better for me if I can sit and pin the quilt, starting at one end, then working towards the other, using masking tape to hold all 3 layers down on the table.

I learned to baste using a starburst pattern starting at the middle. Any information about different basting patterns might be helpful. Any other methods?
I have also glue basted and much prefer that method. Throw a sheet over your table to protect the finish in case the glue comes through. Place quilt layers- backing face down, batting, then quilt top face up. Lift top layer and batting and fold it back over itself, swirl glue strings about four inches apart to cover that half of the backing, pull batting down, swirl glue in a similar pattern, then fold the top layer back down and smooth all layers. Fold back second half the same way to glue. Place a safety pin in each corner and one on each edge, then you can gently move it to a safer place to dry without shifting the layers, (Leave the sheet on the table). I use the shower rod in my extra bathroom since we never use that shower. It will be completely dry in about 24 hours. This method works great for machine quilting, but will be harder if not impossible to hand quilt.

Friends,

Thanks so much for giving me some ideas, confidence, and support as I move ahead with my new hobby! As it turned out, I took the Elmer's washable glue route on a "practice" quilting project first and liked the results I achieved.
This was mainly a test for me on 2 counts: one, to try out glue basting a quilt sandwich and two - giving myself a small bit of material to practice my hand at honest-to-goodness quilting with my new Bernina walking foot! The thing I basted for practice is just a pair of 12" traditional blocks with simple sashing and is about 18"x 36" in measurement.
I want to do some echo quilting and outline quilting to see how I do. Good luck to me!

first practice with walking foot after glue basting
 

Well, here is my first experiment with actual "quilting" - beyond piecing, sewing, ironing, etc....I am thinking this is just about best described as a micro-table runner thing-a-ma-bob.
Next steps: creating my binding - attaching the binding - and washing, then...bing!

Adam

ps....lots of experimentation here with different things from echo sewing/in the ditch sewing/border quilting/and so on....just was fun to actually finally use my Bernina walking foot! (#50) - It was really pretty darn easy to use!

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