Basting a quilt when you have arthritis in your hands

[Marianne G.]

I am the first to admit that I am hopelessly old fashioned when it comes to sewing and I rarely use anything fusible. I like my appliqué to have turned edges, I absolutely hate spray basting, I would never, ever consider using glue in my binding and I shudder when I make a purse using a purse frame that needs glueing, I don't like iron-on interfacing or hemming tape BUT I recently saw a technique online while searching for something completely different that made me reach for the fusible tape I had bought for making stain glass appliqué in class. The lady online used Mistyfuse to baste her quilt sandwich, not an all-over treatment but cut into small squares. I search and found that Nancy Zieman had a video on a similar technique using basting tape.
I tested the Clover fusible tape on a small sandwich (mug-rug size) and it worked very nicely and I could start FMQ the day I basted which under normal circumstances I would not be able to do due to arthritis. I have washed the sample and it looks fine - no pulling at all.
I have now got hold of a basting tape that washes out so will try this on the QAYG quilt I am ready to sandwich and start FMQ.
I will report back when I have finished it - Christmas time maybe :wink: - and do a show and tell how I have got on. I just thought I would post this in case somebody else can benefit from the testing done by the lady here
http://quiltskipper.com/2014/05/01/b...ith-mistyfuse/
and Nancy Zieman here:
http://wpt.org/SewingWithNancy/Video...inishes-part-2
Hope this is a helpful tip for others with similar problems to mine
Marianne

[ANNE E.]

I tried to look at the Nancy Zeiman video but it was "currently unavailable" .
I have seen many of her video's and they are very helpful.
Maybe they don't stream this one to the UK.
Anne

[Marianne G.]

I tried to look at the Nancy Zeiman video but it was "currently unavailable" .
I have seen many of her video's and they are very helpful.
Maybe they don't stream this one to the UK.
Anne

Hi Anne,
I am in UK too and I checked it before posting the link but I have found the last couple of months that Sewing with Nancy will only play in Internet Explorer for me. I usually use Firefox but since the latest update there are various Flash based videos that do not work. YouTube are fine and so are proper Vimeo but several other players do not work. I don't have Chrome on my computer so cannot tell you if it works in that or not.
Hope this helps and that you can use Internet Explorer to watch.
Marianne

[ANNE E.]

Thanks Marianne, I haven't tried Chrome.
At the moment my laptop is in hospital as it is sick and I am using my husbands computer so I don't want to do anything that will mess it up, mine could be away for up to 10 days and I am haveing withdrawal symptoms.
I didn't realize you were in Cardiff, my parents came from the Rhondda Valleys.
Anne

[Marianne G.]

Thanks Marianne, I haven't tried Chrome.
At the moment my laptop is in hospital as it is sick and I am using my husbands computer so I don't want to do anything that will mess it up, mine could be away for up to 10 days and I am haveing withdrawal symptoms.
I didn't realize you were in Cardiff, my parents came from the Rhondda Valleys.
Anne

Never a good idea to mess with somebody else's computer! I avoid that too
Hope you get yours back soon so you can watch whatever you want.
Where are you now - not in Wales I assume? We love it here; we are on the northern outskirts of the city in what used to be a village and it has still kept that feeling. We really have the best of everything; the city, the village AND the stunning nature within easy access. Add quilting and what more could a girl ask for? :lol:
I guess you can get an awful lot of quilting done while the computer is away - I sometimes think I spend more time reading and watching about quilting than I do myself!
Take care
Marianne

[ANNE E.]

Hi Marianne,
I live in Woking in Surrey, I have never lived in Wales but visited many times with my parents. When they retired they went back to live there after spending most of their life in London.
Glad that you are liking living there
Anne

[ANNE E.]

I've tried this technique with pretty good results too. I don't have a good place to lay out a quilt to pin, and I dislike hte look and feel of fusible also. Anyway, this technique worked great on a smaller quilt. I put my small squares (about 1/2") of Misty Fuse about 6 inches apart. Once the free motion quilting was done, you couldn't tell there was anything in the quilt at all. On a larger quilt, I think it would also be an effective way to hold the back to the batting - then you could smooth and baste the top in sections without worrying about what's happening on the underside.