Mary Rita T

You are an inspiration. A potential simple solution is to have the students hand baste the batting to the top before layering the quilt sandwich. I have good results keeping the layers together with a little basting around the sides when using the birthing method for small quilts.

quiltingshorttimer

I'd do it this way too--my guild mentored high school kids making large lap quilts and most opted for the type of batting klswitft suggests. WE did not use poly bat for these reasons stated, a cotton blend is best. But I'd think about just a 2nd layer of flannel actually. Have them stitch a seam down the center vertically, then one horizontally in the center and then work out from there with their quilting. Due to the spray hazards in a classroom (with some kids being super allergic or sensitive) we opted for pinning the sandwich.

Rose_P

I agree with others who are recommending W&N type batting.

I learned about pin basting with straight pins and foam ear plugs on this site a number of years ago and never looked back. I strongly agree with what others have said about using basting spray around kids. It's supposedly non-toxic, but still gives me headaches and makes me cough if I use it indoors. Occasionally I will take something small, such as an applique, into the walk-in attic off my sewing room to spray, but there I have to be sure I'm well away from the furnace and water heater because the propellant is flammable.

Earplugs can be bought in large quantities from pharmacies and Walmart or Amazon. They're a one-time investment. I've used mine over and over. Look for the ones in bright colors so they will show up well.

Washable school glue sticks are a big help for basting the binding. I don't think it would be practical for basting the sandwich because of the fuzz on batting. I learned to use it on bindings from a Sharon Schamber video on youtube, and it has been a godsend for that. You glue your binding exactly where you want it and hit it with an iron to set the glue immediately as you go around, and it stays until you wash the quilt. Actually, I just looked up the video ("Binding the Angel") and realized that Ms. Schamber uses school glue from a bottle, but the stick works fine for me and speeds up the sewing process a lot because I don't have to keep shifting the binding back into position. (Ms. Schamber uses the glue stick for other things in other videos, so that's what I was remembering.) Gluing is much more stable than either pins or clips.

bkay

They yellow rose of Texas, wow, what a great avatar.

Thanks, Rose. I'll look at her videos.

I did switch to the W&N batting and quilted the prototype yesterday. Would you believe? No puckers at all on my first attempt at machine quilting.

bkay

Rose_P

Congrats on getting that quilting done so fast and without puckers!

The yellow rose bush died of a plant virus that was rampant in north Texas last year, so all we have left is the picture.

gmcsewer

After I get the quilt pin basted, I roll it up loosely till I can quilt it. This seems to avoid getting the batting imprinted with folds. I use polyester batting with fmq and it works good for me doing that.

Rose_P

I have some pool noodles from the dollar store that I connect end to end with pieces of dowel. They can then be cut to whatever length you need and a top or the basted sandwich can be rolled up and then stand in a corner without getting folds or wrinkles (sometimes for years, in my case). Pipe insulation is a similar option.