Making a quilt sandwich
 

Hearing people's different methods. I'm confused.
Which is the easiest method for me to make a sandwich
On my own and with limited flat space.( I live in a cottage with
Small rooms) ?
Glue basting, pin basting, tack stitching.

Where will you be putting it to do the work and what is the size of the quilt.... On a dinning room table, which is where I put mine...or will you be on your hands and knees on the floor......Either way, what I do that works for me, is the dinning room table with some type of protection on it to protect it from me....as I tend to get agressive with my stuff.....The best is in a large room with multiple tables and perhaps 3 friends....but do not have the luxury as of yet.... so I lay down my oversized backing, then my batting (warm and natural) then my top, smooth, smooth smooth....then I find the middle and run a row of safety pins across left to right, then I flip the top back to the line of pins, spray basing or a thin line of glue 12" down from the pins, fold down top and smooth and smooth, flip top back to last line of glue, add more glue, fold down top, smooth and smooth and continue on and on....once the first half of top is done, I turn it around and do the other side....once top is done wait a little bit for the glue to dry and turn over and do the back. and then I quilt....quilt....quilt

I use 505 temporary spray adhesive to baste my quilts on my bed. I do have room in my house to baste a large quilt on the floor but my back and knees will not allow me to do it. I have two thick protective covers that I put down on my bed first. I lay my backing down, smooth it out, then the batting, and finally the top. I pull the top down to about the middle part of the quilt and spray, then smooth down, then the bottom half. I wait a few minutes and then I flip the sandwich over and do the back in the same manner.Then I let the quilt sit for a day or so (I have to move it to another location so that we can sleep) and then I quilt. I never have any problems with tucks or pleats in the backing. I have also not had any problems with overspray of the adhesive because I spray close to the fabric. Closer than the can suggestions.

This method has worked well for me and it might be something that you would want to try. I do believe you can get 505 in the UK.

I use my dining room table. I cover it with plastic and do the quilt in quarters. I works very well, and I didn't get any glue on the floor. When you are very stingy with the glue, it is enough, and doesn't get all over. Added bonus is the can of glue goes further and lasts longer--money saving, too.
Sue

For what it is worth.....have used basting spray for years, especailly with all my machine embroidery work, but it is expensive, even though I now buy it at Walmart, it is still well over $5 a can. So I am really going the Elmers school glue route.....especially since we can get it so cheap at this time of the year....and it hold sooooooooooo welll......and bonus !!!! it washs out, something that my basting spray does not always do, even though it says it should......I mean how cheap can glue be !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How would you baste a whole quilt with Elmer's? I use it on my bindings with no problem but a whole quilt? Do you thin it down? How is it applied?

Thin drizzle, one section at a time.....I do 12" left to right.....think how you would sandwich two pieces of paper.....what is wonderful about this is it washs out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so yes you are going to see clumps and gloobs and whatever.....BUT IT WASHES OUT.......

Interesting. My thoughts are how long would it take for the "clumps and gloobs" to dry completely if at all and how much of that ends up on the needle? I personally have never had an issue with 505 not washing out (or giving me a sticky needle for that matter) but I have heard of lower quality sprays being sticky or having a lot of fumes.

I may try using Elmer's if I ever do a table runner or somthing like that. I just think that on a large quilt it might be a lot of work.

I like the method by Sharon Schamber, check it out on Utube. All you need is 2 boards that you can find at Home Depot and a small table. It is a good method if you are space crunched.

If you have an empty, wall you can pin it to the wall and do any of the methods.

I combine methods according to size. For bed size quilts, I start by basting with herringbone basting stitches along the sashings or the outside edges of blocks on my dining room table with all of the sides hanging down. With this method I can check alignment of the pieced back as I go. Then I safety pin once in the center of the blocks until I get ready to start quilting that section. If I am straight line quilting, I will add straight quilting pins. Otherwise, I add some more safety pins. To me, this adds less weight than heavy pinning all over the quilt and doesn't take as much time as basting the whole quilt.

If I make smaller quilts such as baby or lap quilts, I will baste all over. I've tried the boards and dangling over the edges of a folding 24" X 48" table, and have no preference. The trick to basting for me was finding long 5" needles that are fine, but not too fine, and thread which won't tangle. I can baste much faster now.

I also use Susan Schamber's method of basting. It worked perfectly on one quilt where I didn't have much play room w/ extra batting or backing. Things barely shifted or puckered up while i was quilting. When I quilt, I always start in the middle and work my way out in all directions.

btw - i used to do counted cross-stitch and i use my leftover embroidery floss..

It's hard to say what will work best for you. I like anything that does not require me to do a lot of odd bending coz my lower back can't handle it. I also refuse to crawl around the floor. Unfortunately I have no room for a basting wall but I think I will convert to the Schamber's Method too because it takes less space. It may be a bit more time-consuming but in the end, you have no puckers. When I SID, I use the curved pins about hand-width apart. Not that I have a quilting machine, I will try to use the 505 spray. Good luck finding your way - there are lots of options.

I pin my sandwich with regular long safety pins, about 3-4" apart. I have a small glass topped dining table so no need to worry about scratching the table top. For a long quilt I set up a 4x8' folding table at the end and just pin and smooth until it is all pinned. I use clamps from Home Depot to hold the sandwich to the table. I have done many quilts like this. Everyone has to try to find what works best for them.

Not enjoying the crawling around on hands and knees part, and with inadequate table space, this is what I do. 505 spray baste works great but the room does need good ventilation.

Hopefully this link takes you to the post Mamagus made showing her pictures of stand-up spray basting. It's helpful.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...te-t28280.html

I'm so glad you mentioned using your bed and holding the can a bit closer because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE 505 basting spray and have no place to sandwich my quilts..... thank you, thank you.....

Thank you everyone. Over here in England the 505 is very expensive. I do have small rooms and a round dining table. From all your fantastic comments glueing seems the most popular. Here taping and pinning is most popular which I find too difficult. I may look at cheaper glues. But again thank you to everyone who replied