:twisted: when I put my quilt together I always get wrinkles on the backing, as a result I always have wrinkles on the back. I free motion all my quilts and it really gets frustrating. What do you do??

I always heavily starch my backing fabric before layering. To do this, I mix a half:half solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch (available in laundry section of grocery stores) and water. I lay the fabric out on my kitchen island and use a large house painting brush to "paint" the fabric with starch. Once it is saturated, I throw it in the dryer to dry, and then iron it with steam. It comes out pretty stiff, almost like thin cardboard.

It's also a good idea to either starch the fabrics for the top before cutting (you can use a weaker starch solution for this) or spray starch the top before layering. (Be careful with spray starch. It needs to soak into the fabric before you iron; otherwise you can scorch the starch with a hot iron. Experiment before using it on a quilt top!)

The starched backing fabric will not pucker and wrinkle when you free-motion quilt. Just be aware that spray basting does not stick as well to starch as it does to fabric. If you are accustomed to spray basting, you may want to supplement it with some rows of machine basting with water-soluble thread.

thank you for the advise

I use blue painters tape to tape the flattened backing to the table.
Before placing the batting, I fold it in half twice so I only need to focus on one half at a time and I have better control when flattening it out.
Same principle applies to the top.

I pin-baste mine and make sure that the space between pins is no larger than my fist.

Hope that helps.

The only solution I found for me is to baste baste baste as close as possible. It seems like I'm hand quilting the thing before I machine quilt it. I use basting pins sometimes for twin or smaller size quilts. I pin every two inches. Spray basting is good for a small size quilt but on a big quilt it shifts on me. I use the Sharon Schamber hand basting method using the two boards and sitting at a table. She has a free video on her network site. Not her website.

A funny thing about my first long arm basting experience: A new dress/upholstery fabric shop opened in town and the woman bought a fancy computerized long arm thinking she would get extra income from that. I took a quilt top in and asked her if she could baste it for me. I went to pick it up and she had cross hatched every 2 inches using a regular very short quilting stitch. :shock: When I tried to explain to her what basting meant she got all huffy and said said that was basting. I paid the $15 she charged me and left smiling all the way home. The shop closed less then a year after it opened.

I tape my backing to my living room floor. I make sure it is tight but not stretched. I spray it with basting spray and tape my batting over that. Then spray again and add my quilt top. I pat it all down and untape and very seldom have problems with wrinkles.

Use lots of pins when pin basting. The more pins the fewer puckers. Hope this helps.

Hats off to the pin basters and anyone who would want a quilt basted every two inches in two directions!
Thorough work produces good work, and then ... there is me.
I put my back on the bed , throw the batting on it, put the top on top of that like normal people do, and then I start running my hand under the whole thing to do my pinning.
Of course, I get those things you are talking about, but a friend told me they were "kisses" ... everyone needs kisses!
LOL
I obviously am not a perfectionist, so my advice is to be taken with a wink and a nod ... and be very grateful that there are some really good quilters to encourage you.

I use butterfly clips to hold the backing tight to the table, then I layer the batting and quilt top. I baste with pins.