Before our lives were interrupted by the corona virus I would baste my quilts at the senior center with my Tuesday girls. Now that that is not an option, I’ve had to alter things a little bit. Let me share. To baste your quilt you will need the parts of your quilt sandwich; top, back, and batting. A large table, I have a banquet size table. If using your dinning table you might want to put something down to protect the finish. You will also need clips or clamps and lots of safety pins. Make sure your clips are large enough to take in the thickness of your table. At the center I use large binder clips. My table at home needed something bigger.
Spread your backing onto your table with the right side next to the table. Smooth it out. Then use the clips to hold it in place.
Next spread the batting on top of your backing and smooth it out. Carefully remove a clip at a time and clip the batting and backing to the table.
Finally spread out your top over the batting and backing. Repeat the smoothing and clipping process.
Now pin all over. I like to pin about 4″-5″ apart. You want thing to stay in place but you don’t want to have to be removing pins constantly while you are quilting either.
Here is a short little video of my process.
Don’t worry if it is bigger than your table. Once you do one half you can carefully pull the rest of your quilt across the table and repeat the process. At the center I push two tables together to eliminate this problem.
Thanks for the video tute. I must admit, basting is probably my most un-favourite part of the process.