Beginning my first Quilt Basting any last words of advice???
 

I hope you have it well ventilated.

Spray the backing then fold it in. Spray the top then fold it in. Then spread the backing out, then the batting then the top per your usual method

I recommend laying the biggest flat sheet you have over the table first (or possibly on the floor, depending on how big your table is and how big the quilt is) to catch overspray. Just toss it in the laundry afterwards. This is a lot easier than scrubbing a floor!

What I do is first smooth out the backing. Then I smooth the batting on top of the backing until I am satisfied that it is well-centered. At that point, I peel back half of the batting, spray the wrong side of the batting, then smooth the sprayed half of the batting back over the backing. Doing it like this ensures you don't have to struggle with a sticky batting that is not centered on the backing. After the first half is done, do the other half of the batting. Add the top the same way, making sure it is smooth and centered on the rest of the sandwich. Then peel back half the top, spray the batting, and smooth the top back over.

I bought some really nice large clamps at the hardware store that I like to use on the layers when spray basting. Blue painter's tape comes in handy too, for keeping backing fabric from moving around while you are adding batting.

Final tip: Always spray from the outside of the quilt towards the center. This will minimize overspray.

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

I've never done it this way but it makes a lot of sense! Kind of like booking wallpaper.

Thanks for all the info. My first spray basting was a GREAT SUCCESS!! I had DS help me with layering the layers teaching him to work from the center out. Proud to say I had NO overspray what so ever so it was an easy clean up. I will be spray basting for now on, this is so much easier then pinning. I have a quilt for my mom that was supposed to be a Christmas gift. I pin basted and started quilting it, I was so frustrated with all the scratches I was getting from the pins i folded it up and put it away. I am now going to pull it out and get it finished, she will be visiting in 6 weeks and instead of mailing it to her I think I will use it on her bed while she is visiting.:thumbup:

I took a class several years ago and the instructor showed us to smooth the layers with our forearm rather than just our hands. It is amazing how well it works. Sometimes the smallest ideas make the most difference!!!

Congratulations! SO much easier than pin basting. I've tried over and over and just can't get both sides smooth with pin basting...probably operator error, as many do use that method.

I smooth with an old 24" ruler that was losing its markings. I lay the batting down first, then lay the backing on (straighten & smooth) and then pull half back & spray directly on the batting...flip and repeat with the top. I do mark centers on the top/bottom to assure the top & bottom are lined up.

We usually lay down a big plastic painters sheet, which I re-use, that way the batting doesn't stick to it. Do be careful with overspray, it is not easy to clean up, even on tile, and beware of anything acrylic (like nails, ask me how I know). It is almost impossible to get off of acrylic nails without a solvent.

So happy you had great sucess! I would have a hard time going back to pin basting ..if I had to.

So does spray basting alone really hold the layers together? When I've tried, they've started to come apart again. How much spray do you put on - do you try to cover the whole surface of the fabric and/or batting?
I'd love to find a method of basting a quilt that works for me. Recently I seem to be quite unable to do it successfully, and have had terrible battles with trying to eliminate tucks and creases on the backing. I don't really have a suitable surface to use for basting: my floors are all carpeted, I've no big walls, and my table isn't that big (and is too thick to use the clips from the stationery stores). It's the part of quilting that I dread most.

I use the Sharen Schamber basting technique - because I just don't have the room to lay things out - but I have found that it works just as well with the spray baste as it does hand basting.

What batting did you use? And which brand of basting spray? 505 seems to work on all types of batting, but I have heard of problems getting other brands to stick to polyester batting. I use only 505 brand basting spray now. If you are using another brand, switching from a polyester batting to a primarily cotton batting (such as Hobbs 80/20) could solve your problem.

Regarding tucks and creases on the back, I always heavily starch the backing fabric before layering. (I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" on the starch with a large wall painting brush until fabric is saturated, toss in dryer, then iron with steam.) I also spray starch and iron the top before layering. Starching stabilizes the fabrics so they are much less likely to stretch and distort while machine quilting.

For a quilt that is already layered, you can add some starch by laying out a large flat sheet to catch overspray, then use spray starch to lay down layers of spray. A fan helps the spray starch dry between layers. No ironing. Doing both sides with several layers of spray starch can help a lot. It's not quite as good as the above method, but can be a lifesaver with a quilt that is already basted.

To minimize overspray with any of the methods, always spray from the edge of the quilt towards the center of the quilt.

For clamps, I went to a big box hardware store (okay, Menards) and bought the largest, easiest-to-use clamps they had in stock. I think they were about $6 each. These clamps open up to a full 3 inches and have an easy-release/easy-open mechanism that looks and works kind of like a trigger. For sure they will work on a table that is 2 inches thick (I just tried a clamp on an edge like that here), and probably up to 2.5 inches.

Edit: Here's a link to the clamps I got:
http://www.menards.com/main/tools-ha...914-c-9135.htm

The first time I spray basted, the backing came off. Not a pretty quilt!!! So I took the stitching off and washed the backing. I moved to the next project, and I haven't tried this quilt again yet. The second time, I started quilting in the center and I pin basted the edges just in case, since they take the most abuse.

here's the Susan Schamber technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

I use it - no scratches from pins, nothing shifts, and I pull out the threads as i get to the area. The key is to baste it closely.

Slightly belated thanks (I've been busy quilting!) for all this fantastic information. I'm in the UK, so we don't have Menards, but I've found suppliers of similar clamps, which look ideal - looks as if the ends are protected too - I don't want to ruin my NEW dining table!

I use 505 and all sorts of battings. I've tried starching the last couple of backings and it has helped.

The weird thing is that I used to layer my quilts on the (carpeted) floor without all these problems - a few months ago I did a huge one and it was fine. Then one had tucks, and since then I can't get it right. I'm off to buy some clamps, and will have another go at the table method.