Basting by for free motion
 

Hi all. I've bought a new machine, a Brother 420 PRW. Haven't tried it out yet, will a quaint myself with it tomorrow. I'm determined to learn free motion. But I'm a little concerned because I think, from watching some video demonstrations, that it requires spray basting and I've had zero success with anything but pin basting. :/
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks
Kelly

I use Elmer's Washable School glue. I won't baste any other way. I put tiny dots on the batting, smooth the backing on, let dry or iron it dry. Do the same for the top. If I have a big quilt I stream the glue in sqiggles on the batting then smooth. Don't think more glue will be better. Just a tiny thin amount. The needle glides right through.

It doesn't gum up the needle? Thanks!

Hi Kelly... I use the spray basting and wouldn't use anything else, except Elmers glue, as onebyone does. But I pin my quilts to a wall board and spray each layer and haven't figured out how to use the Elmers that way yet. I don't think I could get the glue on without it dripping and falling onto the floor. The spray works great for me. I just wish I didn't have to cover everything first. The over spray can be pretty sticky.

I only pin baste and I only FMQ! It's fine. In fact, here's a link to a thread I started about how I keep the pins in the fabric as I FMQ and work around them. It sort of incorporates them into the FMQ design but no one except me will ever notice that.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...t-t274447.html

I baste with Elmer's glue pretty much all the time now, but before I discovered glue basting on this board, I pin basted dozens of quilts and quilted them on my domestic machine. It's a little slower with the pins since you remove them as you get near to them, but I never had any problems with pin-basted quilts. And the pinning process is a lot slower than either spray or Elmer's glue basting. Now the only time I pin baste is on the very rare occasion that I make a wall hanging that I don't want to wash after quilting. I've spray basted, too, but I prefer the Elmer's method. Spray basting is a little messier. My needle never gums up with either method.

It won't gum up the needle if you let it dry completely. I use an iron to dry
and don't put it too thick. I dilute the glue half/half. Saves on glue and makes
it easier to apply. I wipe any excess with my finger. Do a search on glue
basting. There's lots of discussions on this subject.

Also, does polyester batting baste as well as cotton with spray and/or glue?

I use the Sharon Schamber board method of basting with tatting thread and a herringbone stitch, and it holds beautifully for FMQ and is so easy to remove as you go along (removing the thread before you quilt a particular area).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ