When I lived in a house with wall-to-wall carpeting, I'd spread my quilt backing out on the carpeting and stretch it taut and square, pinning it to the rug every 5-6" all around with straight pins. It is possible to get it very tight. Then I'd smooth the batting out over this.

I would next stretch the quilt top, pinning its perimeter too to the rug; not stretch it out of shape, but stretch it so that the blocks and borders were straight and square, and the top lay flat and fairly taut. Once I was satisfied with the way the top lay, I would pin-baste it with 1" safety pins, spaced about 3" apart.

Now that I don't have the wall-to-wall anymore, I use painter's tape (blue or green) to stretch and hold the backing, and the quilt top, on a clean wood floor. The green tape holds a bit better than the blue. Again, be sure to get the backing perfectly smooth and taut. I use contractors' knee pads (bought at the hardware store) to spare my knees from the hard floor.

As long as the quilt back is very tight and flat before pinning, you shouldn't get any pleats or puckers in the back when you quilt. I always aim to get the backing a little tighter than the top; this way, if any excess fabric is going to bunch up, it will happen up top where I can see it before it becomes a problem.

Do use a Kwik Klip for the safety pins -- well worth the cost, once you see how quickly it closes pins... and how much better your fingers feel when you're done!

If I do accidentally get an unwanted pleat, I've found I can pick out the offending stitches, ease in the excess fabric "bubble" by basting down with water-soluble thread, and then re-quilt. Washing removes the basting stitches, and no one's the wiser!

Baby quilts are going to be washed a lot and dragged around and loved, so they just need to be sturdy, not perfect, LadyRags, so just relax and do them. Not all quilts have to be exactly right. I just happen to be a bit OCD, and I also have entered quilts in shows a lot in the past, so tend to be a lot fussier than I need to be sometimes. I have to keep reciting my mantra--"This is not going to Paducah----this is not going to Paducah---this is not going to Paducah---"

Pat in Rockport, TX

YOU guys are scaring me... I have two baby quilts that I have to quilt myself... One of the babies is already two years old so I have to make this quilt into a toddler blanket... I am planning to quilt this myself on my machine and now I am not so sure... this all sounds like a heck of a lot of THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG.....

I have John Flynn's frame but being a mechanical idiot I have not figured out how to put it together even with the Video. I think I will just have to jump into it. ... but not yet... I am not ready yet.

Scarlett says there IS ALWAYS TOMORROW.

Sharon Schamber uses heavy starch. Because I live on the Texas Riviera and we have lots of insects down here, I don't use starch but do use heavy sizing. I start by washing every bit of fabric that comes to live here. I fold it out of the dryer or off the line and put it away to ripen, until I want to use it. Then I use a lot of spray-on sizing when ironing it before cutting. It really adds a lot of control to my piecing. If I think it necessary, I'll use some of the sizing throughout the piecing, and maybe before I baste the top, if I think it needs more flattening and control. Anything that will help keep everything flat and smooth is a good thing. I got several large balls of DMC white crochet cotton at WalMart and it works very well for basting. That's what I would use on a show quilt or an heirloom quilt. For charity quilts, I use small safety pins and plenty of them, about every 3 or 4 inches.

Pat in Rockport, TX who just finished putting binding on a charity quilt.

Sharon Schamber starches the back very well (or sizing) before she bastes. She has a free instruction video on her website.

Pat - do you starch/size the top as well? I see there's a discussion about ironing on a table in another forum -- but before I spend a night reading through it, do you have recommendations? I just spent a couple evenings re-pressing everything and find I'm still not happy with the job.

What thread do you use? In my first attempt with this quilt, I did use old stuff and no, it did not hold very well at all despite the fact that it was doubled and it was the best basting job I'd ever done. So this time I'm going to do things 100% PROPERLY -- slowly, carefully and love every step of the way by golly.

Beth - I'm curious to know the *largest* quilt you or anyone spray basted with success. 505 held my twin quilts well and for a surprisingly long time, but I also pinned.

Just be sure that the back and the top are nice and flat--I use plenty of spray sizing, the industrial strength stuff--Magic Sizing Extra Crisp. I get it at Wal Mart or at the grocery store.

Pat in Rockport, TX

I have used 505 and Sullivan's and the other brand and have never had a problem with residue after washing.

BethMI

P.S. Glad you had the experience of pin-basting a quilt. Now try spray-basting. You'll never go back!!

The boards that I found were 3" X 1/2". They are are a composite board of recycled fiber and preprimed white.
That sounds like a good idea to tape the edge to the board to control a wider quilt. Any more good tips for us, Pat?

What is the width of the long boards -- more than the 2" seen in the Sharon videos, right? I'm going to get things rolling tomorrow.

As for using water soluble thread: would it lend the same strength and stability as the thicker DMC basting thread? I can hardly wait to try her needle threading advice. She's incredibly quick -- without glasses even!

With the twin size quilts, I found it helpful to use some painter's tape to help hold the edge of the quilt and back to the boards when starting the rolling process--didn't need the tape with the baby size, but needed the extra control with the wider one.

Pat in Rockport, TX

I bought 2 96" boards today at Home Depot for about $10 for the 2. I really am looking forward to trying this method. Basting and marking have always been the barriers to finishing my quilts, so I hope this takes away one of my problems. Pat, I like your idea of using pins with this method. I may try that. Marge

I posted elsewhere that I just bought some 96" boards at Lowe's, and they had some that were 120", which would do a king-size quilt, but I don't want to even attempt one of those, so the ones I got, plus the 84" ones for twin size and the 42" ones for baby quilts should meet my needs. The boards are not very expensive, and certainly cheaper than having to go to a chiropractor.

Pat in Rockport, TX

Hehehe, living here on the Texas Riviera, the humidity is usually in the 90s, so basting with water-soluble thread is not a possibility for me.

Pat in Rockport, TX