Elmer's Glue Messy Story
 

When I was a kid, I was never a neat person when it came to arts and crafts. I got more glue on me and my fingers, and never could get my project finished without stickies all over my projects. I haven't changed much. I just tried to use Elmer's glue (my first time on a quilt) to glue back the cut edges on a quilting label. Well, couldn't get the glue to stick the cotton to the pellon, used more glue. Pressed with fingers, fingers stuck to the fabric, fabric didn't stick to the pellon. Placed a clear piece of acrylic to weigh down the label, label stuck to acrylic, fabric did not stick to the pellon.

What am I doing wrong?

It also helps to allow time for the glue to dry (if you are using the iron) before working on the project. If you are hand sewing the binding to the back for a quilt, place the glue where the needle would not be use. It can be quite a bear to hand sew through dried glue. However, it is not difficult to sew by machine through the glue.

I don't think it's your fault. I did a wall-hanging with Pellon and the glue didn't stick at
all.

I just used the glue for the first time to make pillow cases. I used the glue to keep the part folded in so I could sew it down by machine instead of by hand. It worked like a charm - very thin line, then ironed the fabric to dry it - it wasn't totally dry, and if I had pulled on it, it would have come apart. It held just enough so I could sew a straight line and no pins to poke me or break in the machine. It was funny because I was making 4 pillow cases, and the first one I pinned and it was a royal pain so thought, this is it - this is the time to try the glue and it worked like a charm! I was so excited I was telling everyone that would listen. No idea how it would hold to pellon - but it was totally wonderful on cotton. The clue is ironing it to dry it.

That would be my luck in using glue!

I've used Elmers glue for sandwiching with great success. Maybe it is the Pellon that is making the difference. I am in the same category with glueing, I washed my hand at least ten times during the process and still was sticking to everything in sight.

I immediately saw Tim Conrad in my mind doing a similar "trick" on an old Carol Burnett Show!! I'll bet his was much funnier than yours felt to you. :rolleyes:

Jan in VA

I use glue sticks all of the time and I've had no problem but the sticks can be expensive. I read the other day where some of you buy the glue in the larger containers--if you do that, do you brush it on? I have been thinking about trying a brush as I have the mess sometimes even with the stick.

I just finished basting a quilt with Elmer's. I used it straight out of the bottle, letting each side dry overnight. It worked great, but I think next time I will use a little brush to smooth out some of the "lumps". It doesn't take a lot of glue and I was thrilled with the result - bye, bye pins! There was a discussion going on earlier this week about chevron quilts so I posted mine and didn't think to mention about the glue basting. Here's the quilt - it is the second one with the tall blue flowers in front. http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t222207.html
The glue washed right out and you would never know I did it that way.