So I spent ages laying the backing fabric flat, pinning it to the carpet to be sure it'd stay in place, smoothing the batting over it, adding the quilt top. I used spray adhesive and pinned the whole thing. I turned it over - and there are large creases in the middle of the backing fabric.
What more could I do?!

Hi from just over the Pennines!!

Oh what a bummer! Did you put some tension on the backing? I use a wide masking tape and pull the fabric quite taut. I can only guess that the backing too lose....don't give up, try again, it will be worth it

:thumbup:

I'm so sorry! Don't spray as I have asthma. I use Sharon board method of basting off you tube. No puckers or creases as of yet! Good luck!

Happens to me sometimes, hate it. Not my favorite part of quilting, guess I'm too impatient.

Hi, when you first lay the backing fabric down, it needs to be tight. Not stretched, but taut. Then secure it with tape. I have sandwiched quilts on different surfaces and have the poorest results on carpeting. Too much give. Any way you can use a table? Maybe one at a shop, school, church or library?

I have always had that same problem. I got a flannel sheet, hung it on the wall, and spray basted a quilt. No wrinkles. I didn't have any problem with the smell, but I sprayed very lightly. No wrinkles.
Sue

I like to tape mine to the vinyl flooring in my kitchen. It has nice squares to line up the back on. I put masking tape on several places along all the edges. I put a pin in the tape/fabric edge to hold it better and the tape sticks well to the vinyl floor. You can get it nice and flat and then proceed with the rest of the sandwich. It also helps to iron and starch your back before starting. I do wear the velcro padded knee protectors for crawling around the floor on and have a kitchen chair close to get back up with. I look at it as my exercise class for the day.
If I'm going to use fusible batting I use the old carpet to pin and iron my sandwich on.

Some great ideas here - thankyou. Unfortunately I don't have any walls that are big enough to take a quilt, and only the one floor - most of my rooms are very small. I'll have to see if I can think of another venue I could use. It's probably right that there's too much give in the carpet, though it doesn't have much of a pile. The weird thing is that until recently I never had any problems with sandwiching - I just did it and it was fine, but recent ones have all gone wrong. Starching the backing is a good idea - will do that next time. I still haven't gone back to this quilt -it's lying on the floor where I left it last night. Tomorrow I'm going to a quilt show so maybe that will cheer me up and motivate me again!

I tape and then spray baste. Are you adding a lot of pins?
I hate to take things apart. Getting it all together takes time! Be patient.

Yes, spray and then lots of pins. In fact I wondered if I was using too many pins - obviously not!

Sandwiching is touch. I have found if the backing is ironed, no creases, the batting from dryer crease free. pin the top to the bottom two layers, flip, than re pin back.. it is a pain.. but so very important.

yes, Sandwiching woes.. every project.. worst with the large size of projects.

:(

I'd wondered about doing it in 2 stages - would take ages, but quicker than all the unpinning and repinning that I face now!

Sandwiching is a tricky task. I try to do mine on my king sized bed, but sometimes the quilt is too big and requires the floor. I use spray basting and have found that sometimes I pull a bit too much on the batting when smoothing it out. If it stretches out when I smooth it out, then it will retract after sticking to backing and cause wrinkles on the backing fabric. The trick is to just let it "fall" over the backing all while smoothing at the same time....LOL. You may need to pull it up and let the backing retract a bit and then gently put back into place. Clear as mud, right?

I use my cutting table and clamps from Lowes hardware. Works great!

No - very helpful -thankyou. You've reminded me that my bed is my other big space! But doesn't it have the same problem as a carpet - too much give?

Just in case, you might want to have a bit of a look at the pad under your carpet (may have worn out and have no give in it) and your subflooring (may have worn out and gotten squishy). The fact that you hadn't had any problems before suggests the possibility that something about your floor has changed and, sadly, that is rarely good news.

When I make my "sandwich" I try and remember to turn it over and smooth out the back as well. Sometimes I'm turning it back and forth but so far no puckers.

Good luck!