Basting

[Judith T.]

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.

[Teri L.]

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

[Teri L.]

sindie..what's great about this site is all the opinions you will have to choose from :lol: ...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.

[Teri L.]

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

[Teri L.]

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.

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 :wink: 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 :lol:

[Teri L.]

I'm shocked nobody mentioned water soluble thread 8) I am a new convert to this type of basting (thanks Ricky, lol). I also use spray basting on smaller quilts such as baby quilts (always wash once they are done) and wall hangings. Since you have already thread basted I think I would do as suggested and remove the basting stitches from each area you work on as you go.

[Judy M.]

These are some great tips! I'm just a beginner at machine quilting (I've been hand quilting for 23 yrs.) and I can use all the help I can get! I've been using the 505 basting spray and I really like it. That's what we used in the Bernina class I took when I bought my machine. Did you all see the longarmer's tip Ricky demonstrated in the Bill Kerr/Weeks Ringle show?

[Judy M.]

I'm shocked nobody mentioned water soluble thread

Mandy that's just b/c MY family now has the crud you all were experiencing and yesterday was my turn, I did read the thread but was just too sick to answer & thought "someone else will say it", so thanks! I too am a water-soluble convert!!
Florence

[Judy M.]

Hope your're feeling better, Florence!!! We've all had our turn this year with the cruds! I'm going to try the water soluble thread and flower pins--thanks for the tips!

[Judy M.]

I am new to machine quilting as well ( have been a hand quilter for almost 30 years )
So, what is the deal with water soluble thread? Do you just wash the quilt after?
I am so intimidated with machine quilting. I feel stressed when I am quilting on my sewing machine. I have used basting spray and like it, I tried safety pins (the ones for quilters) and found them to be a pain to remove.

Sylvia, in 17degree weather in NH

[Judy M.]

I'm shocked nobody mentioned water soluble thread 8)

I've used it in the machine for small trapunto projects, but I have a question about the durability/longevity of water soluable thread basting..
what is the longest anyone has left it in before finishing the quilt? here in the midwest/upper south, it gets really humid in the the summer, would that affect the thread? and I tend to have sweaty hands :roll: , does anyone think that would weaken the thread?

[Judy M.]

The beauty of the water-soluble thread is exactly that... just wash the quilt when it's done & voila-- basting is gone. You can sew right over it w/o concern of picking it out later. I did find that I'd need to cut it every now & then if it got caught on a foot, but still, just left the threads hanging there.
I used it for trapunto also, Ricky's method of marking, so you're really sewing right over it w/o a problem.
I wasn't doing mine in the depths of summer, which gets nasty-humid here too, but in June I didn't have any trouble--didnt' really think about it...But I've handled it plenty and didn't sense any problems w/ sweaty palms-- not even w/ hand lotion.
they do say to store the spool in an airtight container....
Florence

[Judy M.]

Thanks again, Florence, for more tips about water soluble thread--these are things you can only find out by experience and it will help all of us to share our experiences with products. Sylvia, I know what you mean by being intimidated by machine quilting. I finally just decided to look at it as if I was just "playing" and I was able to relax. I don't get on the machine if I'm too tired. I also saw what someone said in the Forum about just going for it and learning better by using actual projects to machine quilt on. I took a table runner and just went for it--it turned out pretty good! I'm going to work on some of my UFO's, too. At least I'll be accomplishing something while learning!

[Gloria H.]

I have quilted all my quilts on my regular machine. It has really been a learn as you go process and ALWAYS my least favorite part of the process. I am working on quilting my latest grand daughter's quilt and this is the first one that I have been excited about. It really is a very creative thing. So I guess that practice, practice thing works. Gloria

[Gloria H.]

its so fantastic idea that quilt with basting slip .