I don't baste. I use 505 spray and am going to try glue basting. I'm just finishing a king sized quilt done by Quilting in Sections. I had spray basted the sections and then life got in the way and I wasn't able to quilt them for weeks. They were still just fine to quilt.

When I use the birthing method I don't also bind it. I do press the edge and stitch about 1/4" to 1/2" from the edge.

There is no reason you couldn't bind them, just use a wider seam allowance and wider bindingso you don't have to sew through so many layers.

Quilting would also be from the center out in if doing traditional stitching.

I have never birthed a quilt, so I'm speaking from complete ignorance, but isn't it just as much work to properly birth a quilt as to prepare a quilt sandwich?

My Mom made lap quilts for the nursing home by "birthing them" and then they were tied. The middle layer was an old sheet or flannel. She stitched them about half an inch from the edge after they were turned. These were about 36 x 45 inches in size.

I think I tried to do one once - and it was very hard for me to get the top and bottom nice and smooth.

For a larger quilt, I think it would be less of a hassle to layer it in the usual way, tie it or whatever to hold the layers together, and then bind it.

A few years ago when quillows were the rage, I made a boatload for gifts.....I found if I cut the backing 1/8" shorter all the way around, when I birthed it, it was snug. I do that for small things, if I'm going to birth and it has kept my stuff from sagging.....but I didn't bind, just stitched around edge about 1/4".....

After birthing it,I like to do a stitch about 1/4 " around it for a finished look.

You brought up an interesting point, Bear in re to middle layer. Flannel would be thin but warm and, I THINK easy to quilt through if I go that route (unless someone tells me it's NOT easy. :) In re to sheet, others have said not easy to quilt, BUT, it comes to mind I could use something as thin as batiste (do they still make it???) and make a summer quilt or a tiablecloth.

Guess I'm not understanding why birthing a quilt is so much of a hassle so I must be missing something (?????) It seems like you just have to sew around all the outside 3 1/2 sides, trim the corners and turn it.....right? or wrong? I don't know.....since it takes me 4 hours or longer to tape the backing to the floor, add the batting and crawl around the floor to baste it every 3" to 4" it HAS to be quicker (and easier on my old decrepit knees).....doesn't it?

It seems like it should end up pretty square when you turn it if you measured through the centers to get the measurement for your borders....right?

Taking all your advice and concerns as they come in.............


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In my experience, birthing a large quilt doesn't avoid pinning. You still would want to keep the layers aligned, even if you are just knotting.

As others have said, it would be harder to bind a birthed quilt, because of the extra bulk. If you really want to do this,I would suggest trimming off the outer edges after tying/quilting but before binding to make it easier to handle. Binding a birthed quilt isn't an approach I would take, but that certainly doesn't mean it wouldn't work!

Have you tried taping the backing to a wall instead of the floor? I basted one quilt crawling on the floor... I was in my 20's at the time, but I still knew it wasn't for me, and haven't done it since!

Also look at spray basting, glue basting, or Sharon Schamber's board method for basting at a table. I think that any of these would work better than what you're suggesting.

Do you have any place you could use a large table for basting? Church? Recreation hall? Library? It is easier if you have a helper for lining up the three layers. Once they layers are lined up, the helper can go away.