Has anyone used the basting gun? I have heard both negative and positive things and was wondering if any of you had experience with them? If so, is there any particular gun you recommend.

At one time I used them a lot. The only drawback is cutting off the tags afterward. Sometimes they also pull through into the batting and are lost in space. Every once in a while I will find a part of one in a quilt I am using. It is kind of like when you cut the price tag off of a garment and don't get all of the plastic. These days I use safety pins.

Yes, I have one, and rarely if ever use it any more. It is such a pain to remove the plastic things while and after quilting, and very easy to miss one. I prefer safety pins, easier to see. I wouldn't waste my money on one, personally. I should give you mine. I believe mine is a dritz, and had a problem with it from the start. I wrote the company and they sent me a new one; not much better than the first. There was evidently a design flaw in the early ones.

I had one , really did not like it. It was not worth the money I spent. Plus it is not a one time purchase , you have to keep buying the plastics to go in them. Once I discovered spray basting .. It was the best method I have ever used. The gun does not give the complete basting that spray does.

I didn't like mine either.

Had absolutely no luck using it and threw away.

Great question: I have not heard of a basting gun, so I have learn something new. I will remember is in the future. You guys have are so helpful thank you.

I love mine and I've had it for years. I also have a grid you put under the quilt so when using the gun the needle doen't hit the table or floor or what ever you have the quilt. I tied a long piece of yarn on each side of the grid so when I need to all I have to do is pull on the yarn to move the grid to a new area to baste. I use mine on large quilts and it is a Drits also. Have a great day, Huggies, Fay

I have actually bought 3 of these stupid things! They kept breaking on me! Waste of money! Pins work so much better, now that is all I use.

I used one until I found basting spray! Basting spray is much faster for me and easier on my back. Before using the gun, I used safety pins. For me, the gun was easier than pinning.

If you buy one, be sure to get the right kind; not all guns sold for quilt basting are good ones. The best type has a small, narrow needle and uses smaller tags that hold the quilt sandwich together snugly. Many of the complaints about guns are from the wrong kind of gun.

My gun is from Avery Dennison and uses 1/4" fasteners. This is a good gun.

I found one at an Estate Sale on Saturday for $2 and it came with a lot of extra plastic tags. I looked on the website and there is a tool that you can purchase that cuts the tags. I have not tried it yet but I am looking forward to using it.

I use my Quilt Tak gun a lot .... to put the tops and backings onto my quilting machine leaders.

Quilt Tak is much smaller than the others.

I have also used it to keep my cut strips/shapes together for transport to a class.

ali

I had one, but I really lie hand basting better...keeps things "tighter" I guess you would say.

I use it a lot. Find it great for small to medium items. With the larger quilts I pin around the edges also as I found the weight of the quilt too much for the tacks. Don't have a grid but the tape on the grid is a great idea. I have a gadget like a seam ripper for removing the tacks.

I had one and it seemed to do a pretty good job. However, when it broke I didn't see the need to replace it. I now use either pin basting or spray basting.

I have 2 tips on those:

1) Don't try to baste your quilt on carpet. Yeah, you know what happens there.

2) Keep it AWAY from husbands, children, or anybody who may be tempted to do what my husband did.

This was a few years back while we were still dating... but I showed him my new tool then left the room to do something. When I came back, little plastic thingies were EVERYWHERE!!! In my pillow, sheets, clothes, curtains, papers, tissues... basically anywhere he could get the thing to tack one. It was pretty funny, but the cleanup was a pain.