I'm still pretty new to quilting and learning several new techniques. When I first began to quilt, I took a class and was told to pin the three sandwich layers together. Oh course, I bought the special quilting pins and began pinning every quilt I made. After reading on the APQ website that you should baste your layers together (according to all the patterns I've checked out recently), I was just wondering if this is a more up to date way to quilt? It sounds much easier. Any opinions would be appreciated.

I pin first, then I baste it too!!!!

I pin for handquilting and spray baste for machine quilting. Spray baste is a new thing for me and I love it!

I have issues with both, so I am still out on this! To pin it is fine, til I start stippling, then it is start and stop every second. On the other hand, spray basting an quilt is a lot and messy! Be interesting to see what everyone posts!

If I'm hand-quilting on the big frame, I hand baste. If I'm quilting in hoops on my lap, I pin baste. Don't remember the source (but we talked about it in a thread on this Board), but concern has been raised about 1) the magical disappearing pens and 2) spray baste and the long-term effects of either or the combination of both on a quilt top. If it's an everyday type of quilt that will be laundered and "used," I use both. If it's a quilt that I have put a whole lot of $$, time and heart into, I thread baste every time.

Figure out what your quilting design is going to be and pin in the all the areas away from where the stichingis going to be, unless your going to stipple then you will have to take out more pins as you go along.

Pinning them is basting them. You are "pin" basting. You could instead "spray" baste, "thread" baste or tack with thread or the little orange plastic do-hickeys win the tacking gun.

Seems to me basting with thread would have to be the oldest method of securing the layers together. Anyway, I pin baste everything. Then I move to the next area. It gives me a little break from FMQ.

You will just have to experiment to see which method you prefer.

I like basting spray. And I baste or pin around the edges. It's whatever works best for you.

I was told that hand quilters baste (because it's easier to remove those basting stitches as you come to them while hand quilting) and that machine quilters use pins (because it's easier to remove a safety pin than a basting stitch when your machine quilting comes to that area). I've tried both, and believe me, my friend was right. I basted but had a terrible time taking out the basting stitches before I machine quilted that area, all while the quilt was on the machine still.

If I'm working with a larger quilt though, I do like to use a basting spray and pins to keep it all together a little better.