How To Baste A Quilt Using Spray Starch
 

Okay, call me crazy ( I take no offense to that anyway ! ) , but I made a very awesome mistake turned light bulb moment today ! While I was going through getting my quilt blocks sandwiched to do my QAYG quilt I am working on, I was happily spraying and pressing away till the phone rang and disrupted me. When I went back to finish , I started out where I left off, going about spraying and pressing again, until I looked at the can that was in my hand. It had suddenly dawned on me that I was spraying with the purple can (Easy On Spray Starch ), and not the red ( 505 Basting Spray ) ! Not ony that, but my can of 505 was still sitting on my wine rack ( they make awesome can holders btw ! )I had not been using it all day ! I thought to myself, CRAP ! Actually I said that out loud LOL. But Here I was thinking I was going to have to go back and redo ALL those blocks all over again ! But, amazingly enough ... I didn't ! Check out the video below to see my new favorite ( and budget friendly ) way to baste !

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Great find. Will have to try this.

Thank you for this interesting video. I will be basting today. Starch is so much easier to purchase.

Another cost saving method for the starch is to invest in a Misto bottle. I bought mine on Amazon, they are made to use in the kitchen for cooking oils. You put the liquid into the bottle then pump the lid to build the air pressure so it works just like an aerasol can, only with no added chemicals and it is refillable ! Mine currently has elmers glue / water mix in it, but let me tell you it is getting soaked and washed to be used for starch now instead !

This I am going to have to try! Thanks for posting! Much appreciated.

and I've never seen a red 505 basting spray can. mine is mainly yellow.

The BIG cans ( 20 oz ) are red. I used to be able to get them at sewforless.com in bulk, but they do not offer them in bulk anymore unfortunately. All the instructions are in Italian, French and Spanish LOL, so it was a good thing I did not need to read them off the cans !

I just watched your video. Thanks for the information. I'll be trying this method. I've pinned your page on Pintrest so I can see some of your other work. Thanks again. Happy Quilting!
Debbie

Thank you for sharing this. I'll definitely be using starch instead of the more pricey basting spray.

Very interesting. Thanks for the tut. Would this work on a big quilt?

I also would like to add my thanks for the video. I recently purchased basting spray so as soon as that is used up I will be using my spray starch. MAN the things you can learn from this board are awesome. BrendaK

That I am not 100% certain on , as all I have tried it on since yesterday were my 18 inch blocks for a 96 x 96 QAYG with sashing , but I finished quilting those blocks this morning, and not a pucker to be seen on any of them ! Remember though, I always either stitch or baste in the ditch for added security, so I would defiantly baste stitch at least before going head on into a large one piece quilt !

Great idea can't wait to try it.

Even if by chance it does not work on quilt size, it would be good to use this method for basting smaller pieces. 505 is great and I faithfully use it, but even the small jobs soon use a can up. It is pricey, too...locally I pay 16.95 for a can, so this would be using it wisely. Great idea!

Great video. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for the tip. I enjoy your videos.
Dottie

Great idea. I can't use the basting sprays do to health problems, but I use spray starch when I iron. , I will be sure to use your method from now on. Thanks for sharing.

For those of us who can't see the video.....could you give a brief explanation of the method? Do you let the starch dry? Do you spray both surfaces? How heavily do you spray/how "wet" is it? Do you just use it more or less the same way you'd use a basting spray? etc.etc.

1. Lay your batting down FIRST on an ironing safe surface ( this is important ! )

2. Spray your starch onto the BATTING ! You want enough to cover the batting, but you don't want it WET. I always give one coat to the entire batting, then a small spray around the edges to make sure they are covered well.

3. Lay you backing down ontop of the batting. You could do your top first as well, it really makes no difference.

4. Smooth your backing / top down with your hands to remove any wrinkles or folds. Do NOT stretch it, just gently work out the bubbles. Your fabric should feel moist to the touch but not saturated !

5. Using your HOT IRON, press your fabric on top of the batting until it is dry ! Run your hands over the fabric to check for areas that are still damp.

6. Allow it to cool for a moment then flip it over and repeate the process for the other side ( either backing or top whichever you did not do first )

7. Double check both sides to ensure there are no bubbles or folds.

8. I ALWAYS baste in the ditch even when I am using 505 or elmers to baste as I like the added security of knowing my sandwitch is held firmly in place. I set my machine to a stitch length of 7 and use a bright neon colored thread and run it along the major block seams ( just as if I was going to stitch the ditch only with very large stitches and easy to see thread ) in a grid pattern. If my quilting calls for stitching in the ditch I just go ahead and stitch the ditch instead of basting it in the thread color of my quilting.

As was mentioned above, I have not used this method on a large project , only on my 18 inch blocks for my current QAYG project. All 25 blocks stood up to quilting without anything shifting and came out beautifully crisp and flat.

As someone else mentioned, even if you only used this method for smaller projects, think of the basting spray that saves you to use on your larger ones. Every little bit saved adds up , and being on a fixed income , I love knowing I can save in one area to give me more to use in another !

What is your ratio of elmers to water in your mix? I tried my mixture in a spritz bottle and could only manage to get a steady stream rather than the wide spray that I wanted. (Yes, the nozzle was turned to spray!!)

Thanks sewwwwww much! I just emptied my 505 spray can and was thinking about the possibility of a more reasonably priced basting tool. I will be trying this this weekend! Thanks again!

Thanks so much for this tip and for posting the video. I also loved your other videos. You are one of the reasons that this board is so great!

I will have to try it...Thanks for sharing..

Holy cow!!!! Does it work on large quilts or do you recommend just qayg blocks? Awesome!!

The only spray bottle I have found that even likes the elmers / water mix without a stream is the Misto bottle, It acts like an aerosol can, only without the chemicals. As for the ratio, I use the marks on a bottled water bottle so I am not sure exactly but honestly it has to be somewhere around 1 part glue 4 parts water. The Misto bottle really makes it coat evenly and a little glue goes a long way. I HATE regular spray bottles they are way too messy for me,

I have not used it myself on a large project yet, but I always machine baste any project as well even when I use 505 or Elmer's . I like added security LOL.

This is really interesting! I will need to give this a try. Thanks for the post and the idea!

My computer just shows a blank screen that says" No video with supported format and MIME type found??????? Would love to see the video, is there somewhere else to find it????? Thank you!

thank you!!!!!!!!

This is a great idea. I will definitely try this as I don't like the fumes of the basting spray.

Why do you press the quilt sandwich after basting. I just usually let the quilt laying flat for a few hours to make sure it's dry. Is that where the pressing comes in? Or is the pressing for an other reason?

Wonderful find.

Does this only work when using cotton batting? I would think that polyester would melt with a hot iron.

I had never used basting spray 505 because I had heard that you have to have plenty of air around you but this is great! I am so tired of pinning and can hardly wait to try this. Sounds wonderful and so reasonable! More money for fabric and you have to like that.

Thanks for the great tutorial. A few days late for me but since I will be finishing up some quilt tops in the near future, I am sure I will use your tip. Thank you!

Yes, I would not recommend using 100 % poly batting with this method as it does require ironing. I used it on Hobbs 80/20 blend with no issue.

With the starch you really need to iron it so that the heat from the iron pulls the starch up from the batting into the fabric allowing it to stick together.

Wow! Great tip! I'm def going to try that. And I love your video. It was a perfect tutorial. Thank you!

I will be trying spray starch the next time I baste, just to see if it works.
Thanks for making this mistake.