Hand Basting for Machine Quilting
 

Recently I made a baby quilt (40 x 48") and basted it with a large "Z" stitch before machine quilting a random stipple. Although I'm an ox as far as hand stitching is concerned, this was easy (since it's not a finish stitch), held the quilt together (I used two layers of flannel for batting) and was easy to remove (I used orange thread on a blue quilt). I have used the safety pin method and frankly, it was so onerous it put me off making another quilt for a few years.

Is hand basting recommended for machine quilting? If so, how close together should the basting be? Any pointers on thread, technique, etc.?

Sorry if this question has been asked before. I did a search but nothing popped up that seemed to match.

James

I don't machine quilt..I'm a hand quilter. But I've done both pin and thread basting. Usually do the thread basting when working on larger quilts as it helps keep the weight of the sandwich a bit lighter and easier to move around. I can't think of a reason why thread basting would not be acceptable for machine quilting.

When I thread baste, I usually stitch about a hand-width apart in both directions. Actually do the same with pins.

I'm sure others will be along shortly who are more informed regarding machine quilting.

Thanks for your response; I wondered in particular what spacing was best. My concern was that the machine-quilted stitches would make the basting a nuisance to remove but 95% of it was a cinch. Is there a stitch that "locks" the layers a bit better than my short-long-short method? It worked out OK and there were no puckers, but the basting felt like it was getting loose, especially at the edges.

My quilting teacher told us to keep our hand basting lines no more than a hands-width apart.

That confirms what NJ Quilter said, thanks. Is there a stitch that "locks" the layers a bit better than my short-long-short method?

I haven't hand basted a quilt in years. The last one I remember doing I used a running stitch, starting in the middle and making an X through the quilt. Then I filled in with more running stitches. They were close together and the stitch length was about an inch top and bottom. I machined right over the basting stitches and removed them later. It wasn't hard to remove them. I hated basting, I felt I could make another quilt top in the time it took me to baste. One time with pins and I knew I would never do that again. Awful things.
I haven't basted any other way then washable glue now. It suits me perfectly.

I don't think there's a specific basting stitch, any running stitch will do. I quilt on my long arm, but recently made a baby quilt where I needed the backing placement to match the front. I made the sandwich then basted with water soluble thread. After quilting and binding I threw the quilt in the wash to remove the basting stitches. About 10 years ago I got a huge (like 1.5#) spool of water soluble thread on ebay and have found lots of uses for it.

The problem that might come up when you baste with thread (whether by hand or machine) before machine quilting is that you might have trouble removing the basting stitches, particularly if the machine quilting needle happens to pierce the basting thread (which will happen more often than you would think). You can remove the basting thread as you go, but depending on the type of quilting design you're doing, that might either slow you down or loosen up the quilt sandwich. I guess that's where pin basting has an advantage (and like you I hated pin basting). You can also baste using water soluble thread, although I have only done that when machine basting and don't know how well that thread would perform when hand basting.

I don't see the point of basting by hand if it's water soluble. Thanks so much, everybody! I didn't even know there was such a thing as water-soluble thread. The best invention since sliced bread!

Wait a minute - how do you hold the layers in position to machine baste a full-size quilt with water-soluble thread? I guess you have to do it by hand, right? I didn't think this through, rushed off and bought a big spool of water-soluble thread.

I prefer pin basting and have quilted long enough to be able to position the pins where they won't interfere with my quilting. Depending on your batting is how close I would baste. I usually clipped the thread before the needle arrived to prevent any entanglement with the foot on my Bernina.

I knew that people used safety pins to baste, but it's fascinating to learn that some people actually prefer that method. To me, they qualify as masochists.

My question, however, was about thread basting, most recently I was curious how those who use water-soluble thread stabilize the layers of a full-size quilt to machine baste it.

I haven't had a problem with the foot of the sewing machine getting tangled in conventional thread basting because I basted it from the back, taking stitches small enough so they didn't get caught in the foot on the pieced side.

I have to buy a Bernina? This is getting expensive.

I baste using the Sharon Schamber method. I have an 8 ft. bench I can work on with plenty of space. Pretty quick after you get started.

Not sure where you are going with this comment. You hand baste with WS thread, just like normal thread, machine quilt, then throw the quilt in the wash instead of picking out the basting. Or you can pull the basting out by hand and just spritz the areas where the basting got caught in the quilting & it's difficult to remove.

These two videos show Sharon Schamber's method. She emphasizes that the tatting thread, being rough and unpolished, really grips the fabric, and that the herringbone stitch, because of the change of direction, will not shift. It holds wonderfully for machine quilting. You remove the basting in the area you're quilting, before quilting there. She recommends a width of three fingers between stitches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ

I'm just a little slow to catch on. I was thinking about how much easier it would be to baste by machine, so why not do it that way? Well... because if you could put it through the machine with the layers all stable to baste it, why not just do your quilting? You have to cut me a little slack; I'm new at this, plus it was really early in the morning before my cup of vitality. But thanks for clarifying.

Thanks for this. I've seen the wrap-it-around-a-board method before; I didn't realize that Sharon Shamber invented it. I'm going to try it; I like its compactness. One thing I did right, or at least according to her method, was the herringbone stitch, which I mistakenly called a zigzag stitch. 2 1/2" spacing seems tight, but the stability is probably needed for some projects. (I spaced my stitches 3 of Shrek's fingers apart.) She doesn't explain why you shouldn't quilt over the stitches. It seems so much easier to remove it at the end, rather than de-stabilize an area you're going to quilt. Do you know why?

I looked up DMC tatting thread and it comes in several weights. Do you know which weight would be good for this purpose?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

This is a video by Sharon Schamber. She shows how to hand baste any size quilt. I tried it and it is easy and fast and no pins to remove.

Thanks. It's a great technique.
Why does Sharon Schamber say you shouldn't quilt over the basting stitches?
Why does Sharon Schamber say you should make the backing and batting 3" larger than the top around all edges?
DMC tatting thread comes in several weights; which is correct for hand basting?

The basting stitches are hard to remove if they've been stitched over. It is very easy to remove them while quilting (I am a slow quilter and am constantly stopping to consider my next step anyway, so I don't consider it an inconvenience).

My little skein of DMC tatting thread has an 80 on the front.

It is easier to quilt the edge of your quilt if you have extra batting and backing around the outside.

Thank you! #3 - something to hold onto as you manipulate the quilt. Makes sense!

The reason I asked about stitching over the basting was because mine was easy to pull afterwards using conventional polyester thread. I guess the DMC tatting thread's ability to grip the fabric makes it "stickier"!

I pin basted several quilts and will never, never, never do that again. I hate hand stitching, so that's out. I glue baste with Elmer's School Glue. It's fast, easy, cheap and I've never had a quilt "slip," nor have I ever had a pucker. I tape my backing to the floor, pulling it smooth and tight. I lay out the batting on the backing, cut it to size and fold back half at a time. Drizzle more glue, smooth out the batting, and then do the other half. Same process with the quilt top. Let dry over night, and you're ready to quilt. The glue never releases no matter how much the quilt is handled. Then I wash the quilt with plenty of water and it's perfect. My sewing machine never notices the glue and it never gums up because it's dry. I can't imagine why I'd ever do it any other way. For wallhangings that won't get washed, I use fusible batting.

I hope I'm not being a pain and flogging the dead horse by asking all these questions, but what is obvious to those who are experienced is not so obvious to me.
Lois, the Elmer's School Glue is another option I like and am definitely looking into. I don't mind hand stitching (I say that now, but...) so the water-soluble thread option is appealing. Pulling out the stitching as you go is counter-intuitive to me (when you're in the fluid mode of drawing with stitches to repeatedly stop) but as yet I don't have enough experience to reject that option either. Only experience can determine our individual preferences and techniques.

Why not just use 505 spray to baste your quilt?

Manalto, just had to chime in:) From reading this, it sounds to me that you might like glue basting or even spray glue basting which hasn't been mentioned so far. You might do either a search here or on Youtube that will give you lots of information on those methods. Plus Sharon Schaumber has videos on Youtube demonstrating her methods. She is definitely a perfectionist in her work and it is awesome. But way out of my league! You just need to experiment and find your zone. BTW, I'm a safety pin baster:) Works for me. I feel that the time I spend bonding with my quilt while pin basting helps me decide how I will do the FMQ on my domestic machine. Good Luck!

I tried spray adhesive once and it was like I did nothing to hold the layers together. Maybe it was the product, the batting, my technique or something - but it didn't work at all. It's worth another try since others here vouch for it. How does it work so it doesn't gum up your needle?

Bless your heart, doing that pin basting. I guess I can see where the process would be meditative. (No, I really can't. :))

No, I would not spray baste, either. Fumes, over-spray, etc. And yes, my pinning is meditating. Plus I'm a turtle, slow mover, whatever. But, I need to say Leah's website is Daystyledesigns.com. I think I got it wrong before.

I don't think it has to do with the tatting thread gripping, but just that odds are your needle will pierce your basting thread at multiple points while quilting, and those parts will be harder to remove.

I really prefer to spray baste my quilts. When I baste with thread, my Quilting foot gets hung up on the large stitches of the basting thread causing my designs to be lopsided or completely messed up.

I'm new to this, but if you make the herringbone stitch basting from the back, can't you take small stitches on the front? (Or, remove the basting as you go, as others have recommended.) I'm gun-shy about the spray basting; it didn't work for me, a can costs $25, and then there are the fumes.

I either hand baste or spray baste, I really would prefer the spray basting, but because of cost I don't use it often. When I hand baste, I baste about every 3".

I use Sharon Schamber's method. Much prefer it over pins. I plan my basting around my patch design. I tend to do Stitch in ditch with walking foot first from one side of quilt to opposite side. I do all my vertical rows and then go back and do the horizontal rows. I baste so that the vertical SID never crosses the basting threads and then I snip the basting thread on the horizontal rows right as I approach the basting thread. It is much easier to pull out the basting that way. Then with all the basting thread out, I can go back in the blocks and do FMQ. I use thread I get on sale at JoAnn's. It is coat and Clarks XP Heavy Duty white. I think it was Sharon Schamber who said to only use white so it would never bleed.

i am not confident in my FMQ to do SID by free motion quilting although I imagine experienced quilters do one block at a time and then move on. My way, you are moving the quilt a lot to do the SID but I like the results. Whatever works for you is acceptable!

I'm going to try that method. In fact, last night I went out looking for an 8' folding table.

Maureen, is your avatar a variation of 'Storm at Sea'?

Tess, my 8' bench arrived today - got a great deal on a new, unblemished melamine-top folding table. I'm looking forward to getting started on the SS method this week. (See, I do pay attention sometimes!) Do you think it might be useful to get a piece of masonite cut for the top? It occurs to me all that needle action (especially in the hands of a newbie oaf) might scratch up the surface.

I put my acrylic cutting board under the area I'm basting, and just move it along as I progress.

Sharon states what she uses in weight. I pull the thread as I go.I have done Sharon's method and it's quite easy to quilt over the basting then pull the basting thread out. I haven't had a problem. What's nice is being able to baste then put it away if you can't get right to the quilting process.

I listened twice but didn't catch it, but someone here said 80 weight. I hope that's right because I have a nice fresh spool of DMC Cordonnet Special, Ecru No. 80 (20 g.) sitting right in front of me, rarin' to go. Can't decide if I want to use this for my Double Irish Chain or go the water-soluble (I bought some of that too)route, which really intrigues me. I had better be careful not to spill my martini on it while I'm basting.

I tried pin basting and HATED it. Not a fan of hand-basting either, but for my hand-quilting I guess that's the way to go. I just completed my first machine-quilted quilt and glue basted it (not Elmer's, that's not available here. I just bought some cheap white glue. As it didn't say "washable" I did a trial with some old fabric. It washed out perfectly!). I did it exactly as loisf above describes. It was such a breeze compared with hand-basting! It stuck together perfectly, didn't gum up or pucker anywhere. I think this idea is just ingenious! I will definitely use it again! :)

I am so [unprintable] that I first pin baste, using small curved safety pins with the snap-on plastic backs and a grapefruit spoon to lift the pin point, and then I baste with thread.

Someone once wrote that you need to be careful about using colored thread to baste a pale fabric, and I was able to prove them correct by having thread dye left when I pulled the basting stitches out. So much for using up my nearly-gone spools.

Lee, I believe that word is "thorough" - or perhaps "diligent." :)

I'll bet your quilts are pucker free!

(PS - I lived in Richmond and worked at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.)

I find it hard to believe that thread will bleed even if it doesn't get wet, but I shall err on the side of caution, especially since I have an abundance of ancient cheapo thread, a fringe benefit from all the machines I've accumulated. I guess I dodged a bullet when I used screaming orange (so I could easily spot it) on that mostly pale-blue quilt and didn't have a problem.