Sindie wrote:
You can do free motion over the basting, you only need to make sure your quilting foot/darning foot dont catch the basting thread...you will get stucked :shock: ...or you can remove the basting as you go I have done it both ways and would not hestiate to do it again so just go for it girl and have fun!!!! Next time you make a quilt..try an other method of basting...spray...pins..and you will soon find what you prefere

My thoughts...

I just completed a machine quilting class. We used straight pins...YES long flower head pins. Believe it or not...I did not stick myself once. The pins catch all the layers and then the tip of the pin goes into the top and batting.

I really like this method...because I can quickly pull out the pins when I come to them...especially when doing free motion quilting.

My quilt was 40 x60...however...we had one gal who had a queen size quilt and did just fine.

Just pin the 'snot' out of the quilt to make sure you are working on something that flat as it can be.

Also...make sure you have extra tables around your machine to help keep the weight of the quilt even when machine quilting. If your quilt drags due to weight...then your stitches will not be as even.

FW

sindie..what's great about this site is all the opinions you will have to choose from ...here's mine..
leave the thread basting in. when you machine quilt, you are only working on a dinner plate size area at a time. take out the basting in your current working area. as you move to the next area, take out that basting.

I have gravitated to this technique from pin basting and I'm pretty happy with it.


check out http://www.sharonschamber.com she has a tutorial about thread basting for machine quilting.

Sindie,
Oh, I'm going to be a pain in the butt here, however I think it'll be worth it for you in the end. Ready? You have several choices:
1) pin baste everything the take out the thread basting;
2) take the thread basting out and spray baste (if the quilt isn't for a baby this is great alternative); or
3) take a small section of basting out, machine quilt this area, take more basting out and keep going until you finish the quilt.

It is so difficult to thread baste and machine quilt, thread basting is more for hand work because the thread comes out as you're stitching. with the machine the basting will get caught in something, under the needle, in the quilting foot and will be such a pain to deal with. And in some spots, the basting won't come out from under the machine quilting and there will be snipped threads hanging out all over the quilt top.

With pin basting you do take the pins out as you quilt, however it's a lot easier to quilt around them.

Happy Quilting!
Teri

I am such a newbie that it's scary! I have perhaps a very dumb question about basting. I have finished my quilt top and have just basted the whole thing. Do I just go ahead and machine quilt right over the top of the basting and then pick the basting stitches out when I have finished? I'm scared to start quilting until I know for sure!

Sindie in the UK.