Periodically I will pull out some of my older quilt magazines just to see if there is an idea waiting there for me. I don't know if this issue is still available or not but in the Quilters Newsletter, December 2000/Nol. 328, there is a great article on quilting with silk. It basically covers everything you want/need to know about working with silk, ie: Dispelling myths, prewashing, ironing silk, "to fuse or not to fuse", cutting and tearing silk, needles and pins, silk thread, marking, batting, quilting and finally caring for silk quilts. The article was adapted from "Silk Quilts: From the Silk Road to the Quilter's Studio", by Hanne Vibeke de Koning-Stapel, copyright 2000, published by The Quilt Digest Press. I hope this helps and that the magazine is still available.

I would make a sample "sandwich" to see how the silk holds up to stitching and whether or not needle holes will be a problem.

You don't really have to be afraid of silk. It's a wonderfully responsive natural fiber and a light steaming will remove any holes left by needles and threads (you may wish to rub your finger across the holes a little. Here's a method Sharon Schamber uses to baste quilts that would work well with silk, I think, though I use a smaller stitch than she does and a lighter basting thread, which is a cotton thread that isn't as refined as others and has an ability to catch the fabric and hold it in place. She calls it a "herringbone" stitch, though I knew it as "pad stitching" in tailoring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_EjBGz5vGQ&feature=relmfu

Just thought I would add that if you are starting a silk quilt, using weft to stabilize it will help, both for stitching and quilting.

I basted a Dupioni silk small wall hanging years ago using basting thread which breaks very easily and did not get stuck in any of the slubs. If I were to do it again I think I would use spray and machine baste with the thinnest of threads like one of Superior's.
Jeanine

Hmm.... Interesting question. From garment construction days I seem to recall recommendations that pattern pieces be pinned to fabric within the seam allowances for fear pin hole marks would remain. I have no experience basting silk quilts but my answer to, "How do you baste a silk quilt?", my answer would be - very carefully. Spray adhesive would leave no pin holes but I am not sure I'd want that in the quilt. I am curous too!

I think I remember that Alex had the silk quilt she hand quilted basted by a long arm quilter using a long basting stitch.
Maybe she can confirm.

I have been asked to find out the best way to baste a silk quilt. It would be helpful to know the ways to do the quilt for machine quilting and hand quilting (if the methods are different). Thanks in advance.

Pat--"Keep Calm and Carry On"