There's Got to be an easier way!
 

Hey Everybody,

I'm working on a jelly roll race quilt with a border, and it was too big to pin at my dining room table. When I'm pinning larger quilts, I lay it out on the living room floor an pin it there, on hands and knees. This one took me nearly two hours on hands and knees to pin. Physically it was a misery.

How do you all pin larger quilts that are too big to lay out on a table? There's Got to be an easier way than what I do! Please enlighten me with your collective wisdom.

Thank you!

I go somewhere else to pin baste a bigger quilt. My public library's meeting room has tables that can be shoved together, and our historical society has a huge table that's often used for buffets. I can tape the backing to the laminated tops of these tables and then not worry about stabbing them with pins. My local quilt shop has a new class space with tables. It's not in use all the time, but I imagine the owner would let me use it for pin basting.

Another thing I do, which is hard on the back, is to lay the whole thing out on a bed and use a couple of old cutting maps underneath. I move those around carefully as I pin.

Our LQS has a classroom with tables and design walls. We are welcome to use the room during business hours for sewing, pinning quilts and using the design walls when there are no classes in session. I assembled my GW pieces up so I could get some needed help on assembly.

I have a small house and not much space either of wall or floor or furniture for that matter. I do a lot of layout on top of our queen bed, it may be hard on the back but it's easier than the floor! Currently I have one of those extra large cutting mats, or I've used heavy brown paper rolls (gotten at school supply store). Obviously this works well for small projects, not so good for larger.

It's an issue for many of us. I've been using a friend's long arm set up for my larger quilts for the last couple of years, but it doesn't look like it will be available for my use this year, so sandwiching is again an effort. I've been thinking of putting up an ad on Craig's List hoping to find a home machine I could use and for which I would pay, if for nothing else but to sandwich and baste the tops together. I feel fairly confident though that in my area there is someone relatively nearby who isn't using their machine as much as they thought and would like to get some return on their investment.

Many fire houses, libraries, or other public buildings have rooms (and those nice large tables) for public use. Sometimes a small fee, sometimes all you have to do is ask. I know some people who have access to their church halls, or who are school volunteers and use lunch rooms. You might also see if a large local nursing home or senior center has a community room, my friends belong to a guild that meets in such a place.

I use a 30 X 72 table and clamps. I use the clamps to hold the first section of the backing; smooth on the batting and lay on the top. I pin or glue (Elmer's) that first section. If I use the glue method I let it dry completely. Then, I move that section off the table and used the clamps to fasten a new section to the table with the clamps and repeat the process. I have good success using this method and I can walk when I'm finished. I could not do the hands and knees thing! You might also look up Sharon Schambler's video on using boards that are 1 X 4's. I like that method also.

Last year I ran across this (kinda funny) video and have had great success pin basting large quilts on my kitchen table this way. https://youtu.be/jnke_KzeTI8

I purchased eight clamps similar to these at Harbor Freight. https://www.harborfreight.com/2-12-i...amp-69290.html

I find it much quicker, no strain on my back and the results have been great (i.e. quilt is centered).

I remember there was another method where you folded the layers on boards of wood? I never tried it but I'm sure it would work too!

Good luck finding what works for you :)

I went to spray basting on top of two foldable tables butted up next to each other. Pinning only along the edges after spray basting. Now I have a long arm and no more pinning or basting only small quilts I do on my domestic machine.

This is what I do as well. I just did a king size quilt with this method and it was fine. It can be a bit tedious to move everything around and unclamp/reclamp but it sure beats crawling around on the floor.

Yeah, this is the method I use too and it works real well

This looks to be a great idea. My dining tables are oval so I might buy a piece of hardboard or similar to sit on the top. It'll be thin enough for the bulldog clips to go over too. 'Skuuuurs', I already have in the kitchen drawer. :thumbup:

Thank you for the link.