What are your thoughts on basting? Do you pin baste? Are you a spray baster? Are you lucky enough to have a long arm and no longer have to baste quilts?
I go back and forth on the topic of basting. Spray basting I use mostly for competition quilts and quilts that may not lay perfectly flat without a little extra help. Pin basting is for everything else. One thing I don’t like about spray basting is that EVERYTHING gets sticky. Me, my floors, the quilt, everything. Also, good heavens, the smell. I like spray basting in the summer though, when I can do it outdoors and don’t have to care at all about what gets sticky and the smell isn’t an issue.
I gave up on curved safety pins about two years ago for pin basting and I exclusively use Pinmoors now. Straight pins that I have bent in the middle go into these little rubber pin caps and just stay put. So much easier on my arthritic hands. I also try to pin baste on my table as much as possible to save my knees.
Here are the two mini quilts that I am pin basting today. I figured if I was doing one, I might as well do the other one too. I am using the same backing fabric for both. As these are mini quilts, I figure the backing will be on a wall so there is no point using my favorite fabric on it. The fabric isn’t hideous at all, it just isn’t one I am emotionally attached too.
Do you see the white dots? Those are the Pinmoors. I highly recommend looking into them if you don’t like safety pins. They are seriously fantastic for those of us that struggle with arthritis. Oh and did I mention that they are made in the United States. Always nice to support a company manufacturing at home.
So what do you like? Pins or spray? Some day I hope to be one of you lucky long arm quilters and move past my basting days!
****not a sponsored post, just simply sharing my experiences with a product I love.***
I always pin baste on my kitchen table. A cardboard cutting board intended for cutting clothing patterns protects my wood table. The quilts hang off the table edges, I pin whatever is on the table top, and then pull next unpinned surface onto the table and continue pinning until each side and end has been pinned. After all is pinned, i close pins using a gadget made for this purpose. Leaving my pins open when I remove them while quilting helps my fingers for the next use.
I have used this method for years and make at least one quilt a month ranging in size from twin to queen.
The warnings on the spray basting cans has always been a concern of mine. Sulky makes a spray that is not harmful, but it has a temporary hold of only a few days. Nice for other projects, but not for large quilts.
When pinning gets too difficult for me, I plan on having my quilts basted by a long armer.
I like the idea of pin basting. Thanks for your input.
I pin basted once. I did a horrible job and probably need to give it another shot. Since then I have used fusible batting twice (hard to find in my area) and spray basting since. You are right – everything gets sticky. So I try to wait until I have two things to baste and then the sticky is a little more worth it. I guess I have a bad smell-er because I don’t notice the smell.
I hate pin basting. Not only is it grueling on larger Quilts, but no matter how closely I pin, I still get a lot of shifting. I’m a big fan of spray basting. And yes, I do it out of doors, which presents obstacles, like the weather! I’ll pin baste minis, if I have to.
Another way of basting is to have a longarmer baste it, especially for the larger quilts. This works whether you are going to hand quilt the quilt or quilt it on your DSM. I basted one wall hanging I was going to hand quilt, using thread and a Z pattern, then I bought my longarm! FYI, I had 6 cans of 505 Basting Spray that I used to use it to tame wild borders…all of the pressure in all the cans leaked out and I had to throw them away. Don’t stock up on it, just buy what you need when you need it.
I usually spray baste. I machine quilt them myself. I try to avoid pins. When I hand quilt I spend the time and thread baste.
http://jobutterfield.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/basting-with-friend.html
I was a pin baster until I discovered spray. I use spray on everything that does not go on my longarm. But I do like these Pinmoors.
Honestly, I really hate basting of any kind. I have some safety pins, and I don’t mind them. I’d just as soon stitch baste, if I had to, but I manage to avoid it all when I can. I have seen Pinmoors and thought about them. Maybe I’ll try them one day. In summer, I don’t mind spray basting outside on the deck.
I am one of the lucky ones to have a longarm. Before that I hated basting, no matter what version of it. I quilt any size project from tiny to big on the longarm.
I spray baste. I don’t have a big enough area to layout anything larger than a bent quilt and my knees won’t take being down in the floor fire very long. I use a big painters tarp under the quilt when I spray it and that keeps surface (usually kitchen floor) from getting sticky and I use my gardening knees pads to protect my knees.