does it have to be the backing on the bottom for basting?
 

Yes I am needy today... but this place is such a wealth of knowledge how can I not ask? :)

I am finishing up a tshirt quilt and its big. I usually start by taping the backing to the floor and then put the batting and top on top.

Since my kitchen floor is only so big, so I am thinking of taping my top to the floor.. then the batting and then the back. Then I think the excess of the batting and backing might be easier to manage.

In my little mind I think this will be fine, but I just wanted to check others opinions first

What do you guys think?

I assume you are going to safety pin the layers together and quilt on a DSM. The pins will be on the back side of the quilt. That means you will have to either quilt with the tshirts on the bottom or remove pins from the bottom while you're quilting from the top. Of course if you plan to tie the quilt, then I don't think there would be a problem doing it this way.

good point!! I had not thought of the safety pins.... hmmm wonder what else I had not thought of??

I could glue baste I suppose???

I just tried glue basting for the first time in more than 30 years of quilting and I am here to tell you it is the best I have ever been able to manage. So much neater and stronger that spray basting and so much quicker than pin basting and no rusty pins if I don't get to it right away. No blistered fingers either. In fact I have one quilt that is pinned and ready to to quilt and I will be taking it out and glue basting it with out a doubt. You may be happier with your t-shirt quilt doing it this way.

I haven't tried the glue basting method but I do spray baste and no pins, or just a few before I get a few "stabilizing" rows quilted down. It took me decades to get the right technique to perfectly spray baste with not too much and not too little and not over spraying but now that I have it, I am using it.

My house is small and I have to do my basting on my queen sized bed, which makes basting a queen sized quilt a bit challenging... but usually the "short" side of the quilt is about the length of the bed so I do it that direction in sections.

I have rolls of heavy kraft paper that I use as a work surface. Although I could get by with two, I use three pieces for more firmness. Although I usually start by putting the bottom layer to the batting layer first, you can do it top layer first. Make sure before you put on the back that the front is the way you want... and then flip it over again and double check once the back is on.

Have you ever considered pool noodles? They are on sale now here. Do a google on "pool noodles for quilting" for videos or we have threads here about people's results. My friend uses the wood dowels instead, but she has a place to store them and a large house.

I will have to google the pool noodle technique.. I have never tried that - thanks

Honestly, I can't picture how that would be better to do it that way???

Or spray baste?
Or hand baste with long running stitches?

I have Brown craft paper taped to my wall with painters tape..I hang my design wall over it till I need it, then take the design cloth down and tape my back to the paper, spray with glue, add batting, tape, repeat with the top. Very fast and easy, no wrinkles. It is oversized to allow for any overspray, but looks fine with the design wall over it when not in use.

You might also considering paying a longarmer to baste your layers together for you. I

I only glue-basted one time, but found that the whole thing got rather stiff. That might be a problem for a really large quilt, if you are quilting it on your DSM. (Or, maybe I didn't really do it correctly?!!!)