Basting- pins vs spray or? What do you do?
 

Holy cow. I basted the t shirt quilt, and 300 (!!!) pins weren't enough, so I went back today for more.(/and may I say that I do not like Dritz safety pins- they were not sharp at all,) and I finally got it basted all over. The pins are about 4 or 5" apart. Then I decided I should practice the quilting stitching on a practice sandwich, so I made one, and used scraps of the batting, so I used spray basting because I thought it would glue it together. Um, yeah! ItI'sm o perfect and smooth, wondering why we don't all use it all the time. What am I missing here, or am I about to find out when I start stitching?

Boards and pins for me. I am not interested in spraying anything in the house.

I have been spray basting for years. You have to find the spray that works the best for you. I have not tried the Elmer's white school glue for basting the entire quilt yet but I do use glue sticks for matching seams. And I use the Clover clips for help with the binding. If I don't have to use pins - I don't.

All I ever use is pins. No sprays in the house, I have a bird.

I have used Elmer’s washable glue to baste a 120 x 120 king quilt and several other quilts and I don’t use any other way now. It it so fast and easy! And they end up so nice and smooth!

I just use pins....lots and lots. My current quilt has about 500 of them in it......pinned every 2-3 inches. I'm lucky as I have a large table top I can use when I am basting so I don't have to kneel down on the floor to do it. I don't like spray baste. I have tried several including 505 and have had problems with fabric shifting every time. It's fine for holding practice sandwiches or small projects but that's about it....as far as I'm concerned it just doesn't hold up with all the movement and manipulating done whilst quilting a quilt any bigger than a cot quilt......This is just my opinion derived from my own personal experience anyway. I don't think the wool/poly batting I use is particularly compatible with the spray baste........never seems to hold my sandwich unless I quilt straight away....if I come back the next day I've always got fabric separating from the batting....not glued any more. And yes, I've read the instructions, watched all the you tubes and followed umpteen forum threads on the subject. I tried Elmers White Washable school glue the other day for the first time and it was easy to apply, dried well and left me with a fabulously glued together sandwich but my machine hated it; kept intermittently jamming and not feeding. When I applied the glue I even used a scraper to make sure the glue was spread out. In the end I soaked the whole quilt sandwich in the bath tub to dissolve the glue and separate the fabrics and batting before drying and re-basting with pins. Now that it is basted this time with pins the sewing machine is doing fine.....go figure. Have never heard of anyone having the trouble I have had with this product...guess I'm just lucky that way!!!!!!!

OK, how do I quilt it without running into my safety pins? Anyone have a video I should watch? Thanks.

I have had good experiences with Elmer's school glue and use it often. I did not have bad experience with pins but it made a large quilt very heavy for me and they had to be moved as I sewed. I also have had good results with thread basting and the boards like Sharon Schambler recommends. I do not like the idea of spray baste because of the fumes and mist that settles on everything around. I don't use sprays of any kind in our home.

Isn't is fun to try new techniques? Congrats on your adventure.

I just started using the basting spray again for some embroidery machine projects. I also used the washable glue on my last quilt to secure the binding before stitching. It ended up one of my best looking bindings so far. It just clicked for me.

I only l use Elmer's school glue for basting now. It is the best method for me.
Spray basting always seemed so messy, I have trouble controlling the overspray and it is expensive.

I do like spray basting but don't like the smell, the cost, and the "overspray", so I don't use it very often. I absolutely HATE pin basting, I thread baste my quilts.

I hated pin basting but that was the way I was taught originally. Never got really good results with it. Once I tried 505 spray, I NEVER went back. Spray basting is the only way to go!!

For hand quilts I hand baste, for machine quilts I use either Fusiboo (fusible batting) or pins. You mentioned my absolute least favorite part of the quilting process :) I don't like that spray stuff.

To the person who wanted to know how not to run into your pins, I just slow it down as I near one and then take it out.

I bought a big bag of ear plugs on Ebay for 3.98 and they work great with straight pins.

I didn't do well with spray. I only tried it once and it made a mess on my floor. Maybe I should rephrase that. I made a mess. I use pins on small quilts and hand baste larger quilts. I belong to a hand quilting group and can take the larger ones there for basting.

505 basting spray all the way for me. I doubt I would be a quilter if I had to pin or hand baste. I am not overly sensitive and don't find it smelly, nor do I have a problem with overspray. I also bought out the Mettler spray when Hancocks went out of business - like that one too.

Ruby2shoes - I wonder if your glue wasn’t fully dried? Just a thought.

Basting is my least favourite part of quilting. I am lucky to have enough room and I bought a HQ 16 second hand 18 months ago and have not looked back.

505 works well, but I get migraines from the fumes, even using it outdoors.

Elmers glue works a charm for small projects.

Pins hurt my hands.

I would have written this exact same statement :-)

Yep, Sullivan's for me!

Ruby2shoes - perhaps you used too much glue? If you had so much you could use a scrape to spread it that may be too much. I think that has been mentioned here on the QB.
I've only used thin strips from the bottle a few inches apart. On small applique things I've used a school glue stick as it is very easy to apply. I've only used school glue on small applique projects so far but like how easy it is to use and soft after you are done. When I first started to quilt and read about pin basting I was immediately on the hunt for a longarm of some kind. I've done a few small projects with pin basting(before longarm) and hated every minute of it. Don't know how you stand doing a large quilt at all with pin basting.

Yes, I ironed it and it was about a week before I got around to starting to quilt it. I'm sure it's a fabulous product as everyone atests too, I haven't heard of anyone else having problems but it just didn't work for me.
And yes, I used thin squiggles in a zig zag pattern every few inches and used the spreader to just be sure I didn't have any little blobs of it.

Mettler is my favorite but they no longer make it.

I have been using Elmer’s school glue for the past 7 years with no issues. I spread in a zig zag pattern and then use a yardstick to smooth out the layers. I like it so much better then pinning and as I said no issues.

No issues with Elmer's School glue. It's non toxic. I threw away all my basting pins. Nasty things.

LOL. I detest basting with pins. I use the homemade spray recipe and it's non toxic and non aerosol. Works great.

That's the only way I baste, too....works super!

I've only machined quilted small quilt projects so far since a I started quilting and I've used pins on some and spray basting on others. I found the spray basting doesn't require "all over" spraying to be effective. I just strategically sprayed different spots and it worked great. Even with this method, I still machine basted all around the edge. I will likely use pins on larger quilts when I work up my courage.

What's the homemade recipe?

I use pins and don't particularly like them, but I can't get past the idea that either the glue or the basting spray aren't entirely washing out but are, instead, depositing into the batting.

hugs, charlotte

Pins hurt my hands and I can only use spray for a limited amount of time because I get a massive headache (though I do use it sometimes). I like glue sticks for small things and Elmers for the larger ones. I do dilute the Elmers a bit because O don't like it straight out of the bottle.

I safety-pin baste mine every 3 -4 inches, then load the machine with water-soluble thread. Baste the sandwich with that, then take out the pins. I can then FMQ without worrying about hitting a pin. Just remember to switch to regular thread!

I used to use safety pins but decided that makes the quilt too heavy when I’m trying to quilt. I am allergic to a lot of chemicals so I had to reject that plan. I worry washing won’t fully wash out the Elmer’s, so now I baste “by check”. I take front, back and batting to a long armer. It’s a great solution for me.

I hand baste, but I primarily make smaller things and most of the things I have finished, I have hand quilted.

Spray all the way . I've never had a problem even with a queen sized that I spray basted over a year ago and it gets pulled out,worked on and put away again quite regularly so lots of handling and it still sticks together
Watson

I love spray basting! My left hand is weak and does not work as well as it should. So anything that is easier I'd ok in my book!!!

No pins again...ever! Spray only. I stock up when there's a 50% off coupon at Joanns. I find a little spray goes a long way. Have never had a problem with folds either.

Do you thin it. Or exactly what is the process?

I used to use thread basting, but it would take me hours to removed it and it always seemed to get caught in my quilting stitches. My last quilt I made I used pins. It was fast and easy. I use a butter knife to help close them so I didn't hurt my fingers.

Yes, over 300 pins sounds right! I have 600 on hand so I won't run out. Better too basted than ripping out quilting because of pluckering!

505 works for me, too. I do my spray basting in the entry hall on the tile so if there is overspray, I just mop the floor when I'm done. The smell doesn't bother me.

I'm needing to make a practice piece to practice spiral FMQing and I"m thinking about using Elmer's for it just to get a feel for using it. If I like it, I may use it to baste a quilt I'm getting ready to sandwich.