An Idea I've Got Floating in My Head
 

Hello ladies - hoping everyone is staying cool in this heat! I've got something going in my head but I'm not sure how to do it, so I'm hoping for some advice or tips.

There is a chance I am going to Kansas City to visit my family next month for a couple weeks, maybe three. I got to thinking about what I could take up there to work on and I'd like to take my sister's Double Wedding Ring up to thread baste, picture is attached for refreshers/reference. I usually stay with my best friend for a weekend or a few nights, she has a dining room table that would be big enough to hold the quilt, which is 75 1/2 x 75 1/2. Her place is really the only place I can go to so I don't have to worry about pets and I know she would be more than willing to let me set things up.

The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that my friend and my two sisters would want to help, which would be fantastic, I can show them what it's really like to put together a quilt sandwich and get it basted together before I start hand quilting it, not to mention it would take a ton of work off of me. I'm leaning towards the herringbone - north, south, east, west and then the four other compass points, but would that be enough or should I fill in, as well?

My thinking is that if we can work together, we could have the quilt basted very fast and depending on when I get it done (early in the trip, or later), I can take my lap frame with me as well and actually start stitching, then bring it home to put it on my floor frame to finish here.

Has anybody ever done something like this and if you did, how did it work out for you?

I'm sort of fussy with my quilts so I'd be upset if some one wasn't doing things "right." If you have confidence in your helpers, I'm sure it would be fun! I'd love to see photos of your quiltilng group working on your quilt.

very pretty quilt

Be sure to put something on her table top to protect it from scratches.

I think if you get the layers/sandwich laid out properly, it should work out okay. That seems to be the critical/hardest step for me.

I think it might be fun - if the other participants are willing to be as persnickety about this as I would be.

I'm fussy as well about my quilts, but one thing that came to mind when reading your post is:
Is this something that they would really want to do or have the time to do. Maybe they would rather just have a relaxing visit instead of being put to work.

I would also worry about damage to your friends table.

I have been thinking about her table top, so I was going to ask her husband to help get some plywood that'll end with 85 x 85 measurements, then sand down the edges and corners so there's no snagging of the quilt. I'd use a moving blanket that I have here to put on her table first, then the plywood, then we could work safely and comfortably.

I was also thinking that since they would want to help, I would make them some small quilted items as thank you gifts, pouches or maybe a small organizer that they can use and I would cover any cost for food.

I know these ladies well enough to know that once I showed them how to do it, it'll be a piece of cake for them and they get to experience a small portion of a quilter's life by going through the sandwich motions. Their usual attention to detail with anything they do would help.

Sometimes it is almost easier to have meaningful conversations when one is doing something together - - -

I think plywood usually comes in 48 x 96 inch sheets - although other sizes seem to be available.

There is a folding cardboard grid. I have used one on the dining table to protect it. It can be found in the cutting mat section usually.

Maybe you'll feel that the heat has gotten to me here in MN, but my suggestion would be to leave that large a quilt at home. If you feel that you must take some project along, take small items that would fit in a tote bag that you could work on in your lap. Since you will only be visiting your friend for a few days of the 2-3 weeks you will be there, the idea of taking over her dining room to sandwich a quilt seems, in my opinion, to be overstepping your bounds as a guest, especially since it sounds like your friend isn't a quilter. She is expecting to visit with an old friend, not host a quilt retreat. Have you considered that she may have already made her own plans to entertain you? Secondly, after you go back home, what are they supposed to do with the two 4x8' sheets of plywood that would have cost at least $50? haha By your own admission, you say that you are going to visit family, so I say relax and just enjoy being with them and finish your big quilt project when you get back home. Sorry if I have overstepped my bounds.

If one could get one - an empty refrigerator box would probably open up quite nicely to cover a table.

It is a quilt for a sister - so it would be "family-related."

The original poster is just asking for opinions and ideas -

I'm with you on this one.

I've done something similar, thought my good fiends and I could visit and pin a quilt. Nope, never happened, we ended up visiting, shopping, eating out, baking goodies and more visiting, the quilt stuff never got unpacked.

I just want to say, your quilt is so pretty!! and perfect rings. I would be worried about the white parts getting dirty with all that traveling and moving it around.

SueZQ - I do see your points, however, whenever there is something family related going on in my family, my friend is always the first to say that she'll host it. When my younger sister was married, she hosted the wedding and reception there, plus oversaw the ceremony because she's an ordained minister. If I were to mention that I was bringing up a quilt to thread baste, trust me, she would be all over it and would expect me to bring it to her place. I've known the woman for over twenty years.

As for the plywood - I would bring it home with me, this is something that my fiancé and I have been trying to do but can't because we live in an extremely rural area and our building supply store in town recently closed. Getting plywood right now is one of the most difficult things to do, we don't own a truck and no one around us does, either. My younger sister would be bringing me home and she has a truck. Although, bearisgray - the idea of a cardboard refrigerator box would be much easier to handle and we can recycle it after we're done. I didn't think of that, that's a great one.

She does not use her dining room table but for the holidays or she's hosting a get together, the table she uses regularly for her and her husband is upstairs in the kitchen. The quilt wouldn't stay there until I left to come home, once we basted it, I'd either put it in a bag or I'd snap my lap frame on it and fold it in on itself, either way, the quilt goes with me.

Sometimes stores will let one take empty cardboard boxes - for free.

One could cut them apart with a box cutter and tape them together with packing tape. Using a metal straightedge for a guide helps with getting straight cuts.

I would try to get approximately the same thickness of cardboard - it does vary from box to box.

I still would put a flannel sheet over table top and then whatever on top of that. Sometimes cardboard is "scratchy".

You must be kidding!
 

This most definitely! It's supposed to be a visit, not a chore. I don't care how good a "friend" turned up at my place with this "plan" I'd show them the door,

Rusty

Instead of having your friends husband get plywood which can be expensive, and can he reuse it (?), how about using cardboard boxes that are broken down. Tape them together if necessary and when finished they can go in a recycle bin.

Do you realize how much a sheet of even 'cheap' plywood costs today. Plywood comes in 4 x 8 sheets. So you would need more than one. Plus smaller pieces and how is he going to keep them together so they don't separate as you work on the quilt. Not to mention, the work he would have to do to get it, get it sanded enough that it wouldn't snag. It would probably even need a few layers of varnish or something to that affect. Cheap plywood is full of hairy splinters even after sanding. and to get expensive baltic birch plywood or maple plywood you are talking big bucks. etc. And what are they going to do with the plywood after your visit? You are now asking him to give up his time and money to do this. Then you want to ask people who don't do this, to have a lesson, so they can help you? Honestly I think you have a dream of showing others how much you like doing your quilting, but if someone wanted me to do something that I had to 'learn' how to do it at the sit down, especially something I'm not normally interested in, I think I'd be busy that day and not be able to come.

Just go and enjoy your visit. Don't expect people to experience your hobby and really like doing it. Sorry, but this sounds more and more like an unfun day of being commandeered into doing something, even if not really wanting to do it, but just trying to be nice for the sake of the visit. I'm sorry but I think you are being very unrealistic. Apparently these 'friends' are not quilters. I certainly wouldn't want to have someone take over my house and push their hobby on me.

Imagine this. I going to go to someone's house to visit, but I'm going to take all of my canning supplies and I want them to supply the fruit (plywood) and prepare it, then I'm going to show them how to do it, and make sure they are doing it right, and etc. etc. ----- and I know they are going to enjoy it.

------ um, please just go and visit. If they want to experience your hobby, they'll ask. I for one wouldn't like this and I am a quilter. In a way you are basically going to force people to work on your project or look bad if they don't.

I think it would be much better that if you want to do something like this, save it for when you get visitors to your house and really ask if this is something they want to do while they are visiting you.

For the record, I wouldn't ask anyone to pay for anything for my hobby, we would go together, pick it up, I'd pay for it and I would help work on it.

I don't have room in my house in the slightest to spread an entire 75 x 75 quilt on my floor and I don't have a table big enough. I don't have a car, do not have a license because I'm disabled, so I cannot ask anyone to just pick me up, take me to wherever I could go and then spend an entire day waiting for me to sandwich the quilt and then thread baste it on top of that.

I don't have friends where I live, my only friend is where I was going to go. I'm by myself with my fiancé and two dogs and that's it.

I'm sorry if I don't have the resources that's available to everyone else to be able to just finish a quilt, I have to do what I have to do.

I'll take it out in my front yard, get on my hands and knees and work on it there. That's the only option I have left and one that I really shouldn't be doing because of my health. But, as everyone here says - better to do it on my own then to ask the only friend I have and my sisters for help.

But, hon, you didn't present this as you asking for help in advance and them agreeing to it! This came across as you presuming on their help. That's why you got such negative feedback.

FWIW when friends ask in advance for my help I'll go out of my way to be helpful, but if they "volunteer" me I dig in my heels. I'll bet lots feel as I do.

Rusty

Not "everyone" is against this idea.

However, I am more "for" using cardboard than plywood .

Ironing board spray basting
 

Our group just spray basted a very large quilt for a charity. We used the ironing board spray baste metho. I ve used this method for much smaller quilts. But on the one we used a long wide utility table . It worked perfectly. Look up you tube under “ironing board basting methods “.

also possible to do this with Elmer’s washable school glue. I do it all the time.

bearisgray - I know, I was more talking about the ones that are against it.

I'm going to hit on some things that I think have gotten lost.

First and foremost, I would never just assume that I could go to my friend's house and take it over. I would ask if she would be interested, though since I've known the woman for 20 years plus what she's done for my family, I know what her answer would be.

I also wouldn't assume for her and her husband to cover any costs for this, I would cover the cost for plywood, would also cover the cost in gas to get to the home improvement store. I also wouldn't assume that he would do it all, though I know her husband, he would insist he do it, I'd still help in smoothing things out. Since the cardboard idea came up, a trip to Walmart would probably work to snag cardboard from them, again, I'd cover for gas. Thank you again, bearisgray, for coming up with that idea.

Since there would be additional people in her house, I would cover for food. Since there's four women working on this at the same time, I would suspect even when we had our stop and gab fests, it wouldn't take more than an afternoon, a full day at most. I'd order pizza, maybe some meat and cheese trays, even Subway if that's what it takes. No need to fire up the kitchen or grill, it would keep her place clean and I would help clear away any trash that would accumulate from whatever we decided upon.

As for the optional basting ideas - I'll look into them. But, if I were to take it with me on this visit, neither of those options would work, spray baste has a tendency of flying where it wants (where we would be working at, she has carpet and chiffon curtains nearby) and there's always a chance for an accident with glue basting, no matter how careful you are, that's why I chose thread.

I've only thread basted once, a square wall hanging. This is a large quilt, with scalloped edges and points. Would a compass style thread baste, north, south, east and west, then at the points in between those, then fill in as needed work best, or should I consider a more circular pattern with the stitches? The wall hanging I did straight stitches, would a herringbone pattern be better, or should I stay with straight stitches?

Whether I do this at home or I do it up there, that's the main question I needed some advice and tips on.

I would be in favor or of basting in a grid pattern , - maybe using herringbone type of stitching

since I tend to go for overkill, I would make the grid about three inches apart.

Also start in the center and work towards the edges.

i had a lot of overhang- quilt bigger than table- and I weighted the sides of the backing with long rulers to help minimize wrinkling of the backing.

I made a " casing for the rulers ( yardsticks, four foot rule, curtainv rodd) by folding the edges of the. A king over the yardsticks and pinning the fabric to itself.