Basting a quilt

[ANNE E.]

Pam, I just looked it up and a L A Quilter local to me charges £50.00 to baste a double size quilt.
Of course prices will vary but it saves a lot of time and pain.
Anne

[ANNE E.]

You could even enquire if they could do the basting using water soluble thread too

[Pamela N.]

Thanks Anne and Rosemary, it would certainly be worth the money to have the quilt basted it is my least favourite part of quilting . I haven't heard of anyone local to me basting quilts but I'm going to ask my quilting friends. I'm looking forward to start the quilting on this years BOM.
Best Wishes Pam

[Janet K.]

Judith, thanks you so much. I plan to get one of these. I will try Artmart here in STL sounds similar to ACMoore. Always have the online option.
Would love to find a longarm quilter to baste my Dear Jane.
Janet

[Janet K.]

Wanted to ask if using the fuse less to baste flattens the batt? Janet
Stupid iPad, I ment fusible!

[Cindy N.]

HI Janet
ArtMart probably does not carry the Microtach-maybe Michaels's?
I baste my quilts with Mistyfuse. I started this after a lecture from Judy Coates Perez. She fuses the entire top to the batting and then 1 inch squares about 6 inches apart batting to backing. That way batting isn't smooshed. Only drawback is the expense of the Mistyfuse. I might try the strips of Steam-a-Seam.....

[Pamela N.]

I'm interested in basting quilts with a microtach which Janet mentioned as I haven't heard of this method, so I'm going to look into that. Ideally it would be to follow Anne's suggestion of using a LA quilter to baste my quilt (luxury) but I'm not having any luck with finding a LA quilter locally . Is anyone hand quilting their BOM 2014?
Best Wishes Pam

[Judith A.]

Janet,
You asked about using fusible on batting. I recently had a bad experience with some some batting. It was an expensive wool batting, scoured, super-washed, machine washable and advertised as thermally bonded so you could quilt up to 8" apart.
I tried to get the wrinkles out by steaming it lightly, with the steam iron on a wool setting, several inches above the batting. It flattened into a fused, thin tortilla in some places. I tried everything I could think of to fluff it back up, but nothing worked. It was useless.

This surprised me, because I had learned in my tailoring courses how to steam wool. I checked the packaging. It was bonded with polyester. It had to be the heat melting the polyester bonding into the thin layer of wool fibers.

So, learn from my mistake and be careful using heat on batting with a fusible anything that melts.

[Janet K.]

Thanks Judith, I may try the fuseing on a small wall hanging but with cotton batt.

Cindy, do you live in the STL area? I am going to Artmart today and will see what they have. I will also check Michaels and JoAnnes. Janet

[Cindy N.]

Yes I do Janet! You will have fun at ArtMart even though you won't find the Microtach :P I also know there are longarmers in the area who baste quilts. Also some quilt shops. Merrily We Sew Along is a good bet....
Also I used the Mistyfuse with Hobb's Heirloom 100% wool batting.

[Cindy N.]

I used to dislike basting a quilt, especially if it meant crawling over the floor as I learned from a famous award winning quilter--no offense, I still admire her and her work, but knew there had to be a better way. If your quilt top is smaller or not much larger than your bed, then your bed is a great place to sandwich your quilt--I like to do this when I've removed the sheets. Your backing will stick to your mattress cover. After sandwiching and smoothing, I roll up the sandwich and take to my kitchen island. I unroll a little at a time to baste. I've used this method very successfully on queen size and smaller quilts without backbreaking pain, because I'm working at counter height.

[Janet K.]

Nancy, that's a great idea I am going to try.

Cindy, yes I always enjoy Artmart. Bought some gifts for grandkids and got a Zentangle book for myself. You were right NO MICROTACH. I go to Merilee often. Bought my 97D there. I want to rent their longarm this year and give it a try. I will ask them about basting for me. Thanks
Janet

[Sherry B.]

I use 505 spray to baste small quilts, like baby quilts, wall hangings, table toppers, etc. My husband made me a frame (directions by Joe Cunningham) that I use for larger quilts (twin and throws) - it works great and I get the back smooth every time. However, if I make anything larger, like a queen size, I have a local quilter quilt it.

[Sherry B.]

I haven't tried this yet, but wonder if you could use small dots of WASHABLE school glue to baste a quilt. I'll let you know after I've tried it on a small quilt.