Sandwiching Quilts on small table
 

How do you manage to sandwich a quilt on a small table without getting any wrinkles in it. I have tried and I can't seem to manage it. I have a small house, smaller living room as my sewing table takes up so much room. I have 6' and 8' tables that I bought but I can hardly walk around due to my sewing table. Please help me, I have 6 tops I need to sandwich and quilt. Four of which are charity Veteran's Quilts.

Sharon Schaumburg ( google her ) has a method that should help. Find a church,school,community center,laundromat...and use their tables. Find a quilting buddy who has a big table. Ask at the local guild.

I use long rulers (3 to 4 feet long) or curtain rods as light weights to keep my backing smooth.

I center the backing on the table, and then pin up three to four inches of the backing that is hanging down on each side and slide a long ruler or curtain rod into the "temporary rod pockets" - that give a slight tension to the backing that keeps it smooth - but not so much that it stretches the backing (very much). I might put a couple of weights on the top of the table to keep this from sliding until I get the batting and top placed.

Then I center the batting and top of this. I found folding the batting and top into fourths works - and then I line up the "center points" when layering.

Then I start pinning from the center and work my way to the edges. I do put weights on the top to keep things from sliding off the table. I slide the sandwich around until I am done.

I use a small table with no problem. Amelie Scott from Edge to Edge Quilting has an excellent youtube video of how to do this.

Work with the layers in quadrants to get them put together. Work from the center out on each layer.

I mark or pin all the centers of backing, batting and front quilt layers. Match them as I go through the layers.

Now I should have used this for my last project but tried something different. I just layered the quilt 2 times and going for the third go round in the next few days. I used a new (to me) basting spray and don't like it at all. Sigh!

Check with your library and see if they have open rooms/tables for you to use.

I second the use of a business conference room, a church basement or other location.

I used to have a large table that was great, a crib quilt fit on it, and I let gravity help me keep the fabric taut, along with a few cans of spaghetti sauce! Don't have that table any more.

I do most of my layout on my queen sized bed which makes doing a queen sized quilt rather challenging. I have rolls of heavy craft paper that I cover the bed, it help firm the surface, protect it from spray baste and provide a surface I can feel/use for safety pins. But the height is really hard on me and even with spray baste, I am "crunkled" by the end of the process.

I admit to only skimming the above comments.... I use my dining room table in the winter months where I can't lay my quilt sandwich outside.
I mark the centre of the backing.with a safety pin on the right side....lay it right side down on the table.... I mark the centre of the batting with a safety pin... lay that on top of the batting, matching the centre marking..... I mark the centre of the quilt top on the right side with a pin.... removing the pin that is in the batting.... lay it right side up matching the centre markings on the rest of the sandwich. Starting in the middle... I either pin baste a fist width apart.... or if I am doing intricate hand quilting.... I hand baste....from the centre out..... once everything on the table top sandwich is done....carefully shift the sandwich to the left....and repeat...and then to the right and repeat.

You could also try a local library, they usually have meeting rooms.

Are you talking about Sharon Shamber? She visited our guild and is a master quilter. One of 22 or 24 in the world. I have watched some of her videos but haven't seen that one. If anyone wants to see fantastic quilts, google her. You won't believe the quilts she has done. I was told the judges took a magnifing glass looking for an error in one of her quilts, but could find nothing. She has been quilting for less than around 20 years.