I'm tired of crawling around on the floor - need clamps
 

I sandwich (is that a verb?) by taping the backing to the floor, adding the layers and pinning. I'm tired of crawling around on the floor and would like to clamp the backing to the dining room table instead. For those who do this, what clamps would you recommend? The table is about 3/4" (1.9 cm) thick and 1 1/2" (3.8 cm) deep on the underside.

Do you enjoy pin basting?

I had the exact same issue, as I got well and truly fed up of crawling around on the floor! I searched and searched for some bulldog clips that would fit onto the edge of my table, but got nowhere! In the end I got some tablecloth clips, which are designed to help keep a tablecloth on a table outside in the wind! They were really cheap (maybe about a pound for 4) and keep the layers in place just enough. They also don't get in the way as I travel around the table (I had borrowed some clamps from my dad's garage and knocked into them every time I passed them!). They are really easy to put on and take off again so I'd definitely recommend them!

I was able to use large binder clips on my kitchen table which has a formica top. Every time I pin a quilt I thank my lucky stars that I have a vintage, formica table. Because the pins scrape on the top of the table but don't damage it. If my table were real wood, the pins would be chewing it up.

The Staples page says the clips I bought are 2" with a 1" capacity, so I would think that would work on your table.

But I wonder if the basting pins would damage your table. Would you pin with the table pad on it? I think the pins would even damage the table pad. I'll be curious to know what you work out. My wood dining room table is bigger than my kitchen table but I haven't use it to baste because I worry about damaging it.

I purchased some rubber clips from Bed/Bath and Beyond. They come a couple in a pack - they are big red ones and have a rubber grip along the edge holding the fabric quite nicely.

I use BIG binder clamps and one of those cardboard cutting mats to protect my table. I used to pin baste but now I mostly spray baste. Just keep older plastic tablecloths to catch the overspray - or plan to wash the floor! I've heard you can also use the clips used to secure picnic table cloths.

I don't mind it, except for the crawling around on the floor part. I don't want to spray baste because I don't like fumes and I worry about them being toxic or carcinogenic, and only doing it when I can have the windows open would be too limiting where I live. I've tried the white glue basting on smaller items, and liked it for a while, but in the end decided I preferred the pins just because it was less messy.

If you have some other suggestions, I'm open to them, although I admit I don't try some techniques because I'm worried that I'll destroy my quilt - I don't make enough quilts that I can experiment a lot. Like self-binding quilts seemed like it would be so much easier, but it took me twice as long as regular binding and didn't look as good! I'm not saying I'll never do it again, but I'd have to practice it on potholders or something before I'd do it on a quilt again.

I use a plastic folding table and I don't use any clamps or tape, I just let the weight of the quilt do the job to get started and smooth out from there.

I do the back first - batting down "face to the table", smooth it out, lay the backing out so it's lined up where it needs to be, peel it back halfway, spatter Elmer's glue, smooth it down, repeat for the other half. Then I either take a break or bust out the iron to get that glue mostly dry, then I start shifting the quilt around on the table and gluing down all the other parts, getting each part mostly dry before I move to the next. Then I repeat the process for the top of the quilt. Once it's all glued up I usually let it sit overnight or for most of a day to make sure it's completely dry before I quilt it. I have zero troubles sewing over dried glue.

I have no problems with puckering while quilting when I'm using this method; in fact I get LESS, I think I used to over-stretch the bottom when I was taping. Basically I've discovered that if it looks nice and smooth while glued, that's how it's going to come out after quilting. If I see rumples when it's just glued, I'm going to have problems and I need to get it wet and try again. Giving it time to dry and coming back to it helps me spot those problems that I can't see when I'm in the moment.

I feel like I'm totally cheating every time I sandwich a quilt now because it's SO much easier than all the crawling and taping and pinning!! My knees thank me. :)

Sisty88, I hadn't thought about the issue of the clamps sticking, out, so thanks for mentioning that. Tablecloth clips sound like a good idea.

KenmoreGal2, I'd thought about the pins scratching the table already and was thinking that I'd have to put my large cutting mat under the quilt, but it would be better if I had something bigger. I can get some acrylic at the hardware store, but I'm not sure how big I can get that. This was issue #2 after the clamps, which were the two things that have kept me from doing it on the table.

Could you use blue tape to tape the backing to your table? I have done this.