Onebyone

I use 505 basting spray or Elmer's school glue. To me hand basting or pinning is like using a wringer washing machine.

Doggramma

It's my least favorite part of the process. I've been using the Hobbs 80/20 fusible batting, not the Fusiboo from Joanne's. I don't make anything bigger than maybe 40x55 otherwise it may be hard to handle the fusible.

carslo

I pinned about 8 quilts out of 230 before I found spray 505 and Elmer's Washable School glue. I love the spray - fast no drying time and expensive, I then discovered washable glue and used a ping pong table to iron the glue mostly dry. I also used a homemade glue with flour and rubbing alcohol - cheap and once again I ironed it mostly dry. Then let them dry over night. I have never had any trouble with anything gumming my machines or needles up. I was lucky enough to have a husband that supports my quilting and I have a long arm now but 505 and Elmer's were my best friends prior to that.

maminstl

505 for me - have also used the Mettler web spray. Would not be a quilter if I had to hand baste or pin. Do mine usually on two foldout tables, or on my design board.

Sewnoma

This is almost exactly how I do it, and I highly recommend it! I haven't had a single pucker since I started doing this, and my back and knees thank me!

I buy Elmer's washable school glue by the gallon jug and I have some squeeze bottles I fill up from there - they are easier to squeeze than a small-sized Elmer's bottle you'd buy at the store and hold more. I hold the bottle up high and drizzle the glue on in big loop-de-loops. If I see a big gob of glue (usually right at the start) I just use my fingers to spread it out a bit.

Elmer's dries very well, it turns into a sort of crispy film that sewing machines have zero trouble sewing through. I've sewn through Elmer's with machines of all ages and types - never had one bog down (not even a Featherweight) and never had a needle get gummy. Once the glue is dry there's no chance of it being gummy unless you get it wet again.

Love it. I will never crawl on the floor to baste a quilt again!

117becca

i hand baste. i can do twin size at home w/ no problem. queen/king size i take to church and use tables in one of the rooms. i turn on the radio and just go to it. I can sit in a chair w/ wheels and just roll from one side to the next . A king size quilt takes me 4 hours maybe???

joe'smom

I'm very thankful I have a long table and the space to use the board method. There's absolutely no stress involved -- no bending, kneeling, reaching, squeezing, fretting or dreading. In fact, I look forward to basting now because it's so relaxing.

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

Vistacruise

I have asthma and the 505 spray irritates me so I pin. I wait until I have a few ready to go and use a meeting room at the local library. They have a ton of tables in a large room so I always have enough space for my quilts, no matter what size. I listen to a book while I pin and enjoy the alone time I know someone else who does the same thing, using the meeting room at her church.

Kitsie

I spray baste with Sullivan's.
Here is the way I've been doing it lately and it works wonderfully! Shows how to layer a large quilt on a small table, and uses wooden skewers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw4sibuP8n4

rryder

ever since I started using my cutting table for basting I don't mind sandwiching my quilts at all.

I drape the back over the table, smooth it out, put the batting on it, smooth that out and then put the top on smoothing it out. I don't bother clamping. Then I pin baste, once the section that's on the table is pin basted, I slide it off the table and start on the new section. I check to make sure that the backing, batting and top are still nice and smooth and then baste away. I've never had problems with tucks, etc. when using this method and I've done queen sized quilts this way. It's a lot easier on the back than getting down on the floor.

Occasionally I will spray baste (for that I usually pin the backing to my design wall, spray it, smooth on the batting, spray it and then smooth on the top. But I've found that sometimes the top will still move more than I like if it's a large quilt, so I often will then put some pins in it to make sure it doesn't move.

And sometimes I'll use a fusible batting--if it's only fusible on one side then I iron the backing to it and pin baste the top to the batting.

Rob