I am pretty much a newbie to real quilting. I want to know how you all use basting spray. I read several posts that said that is the only thing you use..no pins. How do you do it and do you use it on all sizes of quilts. I am starting my quilting life by making charity quilts which will be good practice I think and use up lots of my stash. So far I have just been piecing tops, but will have to put them together some time..LOL.

I use painter's tape to tape my backing down to the table (usually go to our community center and push 2 together). Work from opposite sides and pull taut, but try not to stretch. Then I lay the batting out. Once it's where I want it, I fold it back 1/2 way and spray the batting in a grid pattern about 6-8" apart. I do a couple of feet at a time. Then fold that back over the backing and smooth. I keep doing that until the first 1/2 is done, then do the other 1/2 the same. If I need to match the center front to the back, I put pins to mark my spot. Then I put the top on, center it. Fold it back and spray the batting same as I did before. Because it gets a lot of handling before/between chances to quilt, I usually pin the outside edges every couple of feet.

Some spray the fabric. I never tried that, I was taught to spray the batting. I don't know if it makes a difference or not.

I like your suggestion and will give it a try-may start with placemats to get the feel for using the batting. Thanks for the information.

With smaller projects, lay some type of protection down on your table -- a tablecloth or sheet -- so the overspray doesn't mess up your table.

Even on bigger projects, lay out a sheet or something atleast 8" around the perimeters of your quilt back to catch the over spray :wink:

I also pin the edges after spraying, as I tend to man handle them a lot :D:D:D

I use the wall in the garage. I stapled a flat sheet to the wall(cause its in the garage so I diden't worry about holes or anything). Then I used making tape to hang the backing and batting. Spray the front of the batting and then turn it around and smooth it out on the backing. Spray the batting again and then smooth out the top. Finished sandwich! I like using gravity to keep everying smooth

So is this for smaller quilts? It sounds like you have room to hang up both the batting and the backing at the same time?

I have done queen size using basting spray. You just need enough room to be able to lay the fabric down and pull it back like stated before. You can do any size quilt :lol:

So far I have been doing baby sized but I have the room to due lap size this way. If I add another sheet(I used a twin flat sheet to start) next to the one I've been using I could due a queen if I wanted too.

That sounds like a great idea.

Does the top stretch because of the weight when the batting and top are being basted to the back?