Rose Marie

I cannot get down on the floor either so figured a way to use my cutting table.
This is for up to lap top size, larger quilt tops I send out.
I use those white table clips that slide over the edge of the table. You can use those big black clips for office use. But they are bulkey.
I do stretch the backing a little as I clip around the table.
If the quilt is bigger than the table I do it in two stages, unclip and move for second section.
I lay the 80/20 batting on top of backing and smooth out.
Lay the top on and stretch a little as I clip it on. Then I pin it with bent pins. I used the spray a few times but it is riskey when you have to do your quilt in sections.
Once it is pinned then I unclip and move the quilt for the next section and clip again. So far it has worked out for me this way.
I bought my cutting table at Joanns for around 50 dollars and worth every penny. The clips are made for the one inch depth of the table.
It is only 35 inches wide so have to move the quilt to do it all.

WesternWilson

There is a great two-part YouTube video detailing a very clever method for basting a quilt together. I tried it on a crib sized and it worked very well. I am sure it would equally well for a larger quilt as well.

Part One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA

BellaBoo

The You Tube video is Sharon Schamber. It's nice they are there. I have used her method on a king size quilt and it worked great. I could baste a little or a lot at one sitting.

Rose Marie

Do you have to hand baste?
How about spray basting instead? Or even pins.
Anyone tried this?

WesternWilson

Rose Marie, Sharon shows you a fab basting stitch that goes very, very quickly. The plus is you can put the project away indefinitely once it is basted (pins will eventually rust and deform the fabric with little holes too).

As you quilt, you pull out the basting in the area you are working in (I would probably leave it in and pull it later, but Sharon is working at competition level, so probably needs to pull it first).

Skeat

Rose Marie, go to page 1 and see more options from others. I forget too sometimes to scroll down and see the pages listed:)Glad to know I'm not alone there!LOL I use pins myself ...prefer that to the thread basting..Skeat

Prism99

I think this is actually a practical consideration. She is using a fairly thick tatting thread. If you sew over that, chances are you will also sew through it frequently. This would make it very difficult to pull out afterwards.

MollieSue

Thank you WesternWilson, for the utube basting video!! I just finished a Warm Wishes, and am going to try this method!! Looks like it would really work good! :D

JANW

My 2 cents, I used to do all this pinning, and then as I quilted I would have to keep unpinning and adjusting. Now I found if I marked all 3 layer with safety pins at their centers, aligned them , and pinned them together it doesn't move. Then pin the center to start quiltinq with a few pins around and keep smoothing as I go. I'm much happier with the results.

Mousie

janw, forgive me, have trouble learning without visuals. Do you mean, you just start at center and pin, "quilt", smooth and pin some more, instead of pinning entire thing and pushing around with all that extra weight etc of pins? if so, seems you might end up with more smoothness and less wrinkles. If not, please set me straight, this is a hard part to the whole process. thanks :D